


Love Takes Time

by Prinxietea



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe - Human, Logan and Patton are brothers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Remy is Virgil's son, Sympathetic Sides (Sanders Sides), deceit's name is damon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24427633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prinxietea/pseuds/Prinxietea
Summary: Logan has been dating Remus for one year but Roman, his best friend, and Patton, his brother, still can’t seem to come to terms with this relationship. Maybe it’s because they haven’t found love themselves? What will happen when they find it?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 13
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a thing I've been working on since around November last year, and I'm very excited to share it with you! A few important things:  
> \- Deceit's name in this is Damon. As I said, I've started working on it before the name reveal and it seemed wrong to change it.  
> \- I have no fixed, precise update schedule. I only plan to post a chapter only when I'm done writing the next one. Hope I'll be able to be regular enough. If you want to know when a new chapter's out, you can follow me on my tumblr @ puffbts!  
> \- Check the tags for warnings and please tell me if I missed any. I'll make content warnings for each chapter, though.  
> That's all, enjoy!
> 
> Content warnings: mention of past child abuse, alcoholism and scars.

“What do you need?”

Roman flinched at Logan’s cold tone and glare.

“I wanted to ask you something but… why don’t I make us some tea? You look like you could use a cup.”

Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up, and took a deep breath. He released it, opened his eyes, and moved out of the way. Roman stepped inside and made a beeline for the kitchen, knowing his brother’s flat by heart.

“You know, I wasn’t sure you’d be home. Is Remus here?” Roman asked after he spotted Logan leaning against the wall.

He filled the kettle with water and put it on the base.

“No, he’s still at work. I think he won’t be home until six or seven. And I’ve had a long and hard day, so I’d appreciate if you could not be too long, I want to take a nap before Remus gets here.”

When he stopped talking, Logan noticed the smirk on Roman’s face and sighed.

“Roman, please, I know that face; Remus makes it all the time. I don’t need you to be like that too.”

“Well, we are twins, after all.”

Roman turned away and opened a cabinet to fetch two mugs and teabags. He didn’t need to ask Logan what he wanted, he always took the same kind of tea. There was one thing he wanted to ask, however, when he noticed the pack of coffee hiding the tea boxes.

“Why do you still bother to drink coffee? I know you don’t like it, why haven’t you told my brother?”

Logan let out the fondest sigh Roman had ever heard.

“Because sometimes, love means making sacrifices and learning to like what you don’t.”

“So, you’re saying now you like coffee because you love Remus?”

Logan smiled and Roman felt stupid for asking. That was the smile his best friend saved for when he was trying to understand something but didn’t really.

“I’m getting there, and yes, that is the idea.”

“But what has Remus done for you? He’s never made any effort for me.”

“Don’t say that, I’m sure he has. Amongst other things, Remus had to learn that I like calm times. At first, when I moved in with him, we always fought about this, which often resulted in one of us leaving. I earned my quiet moments, but it didn’t make me feel relaxed. When Remus understood what I needed, his first solution was to leave me alone. With time, he started seeing that he could spend a quiet time with me and we both found fulfilment.”

Roman had two things two say after that. He was used to listening to Logan without cutting in, only not on that topic.

“But that means Remus can’t be himself with you.”

“Well, love does that. I’ve changed too.”

 _I noticed that,_ Roman thought. But he knew better than to say it.

“You two really love each other, huh?” He sighed as the kettle announced the water had boiled.

He filled the mugs and handed one of them to Logan.

“What was it you wanted to ask me?”

With the new information Roman had, his heart felt heavier than it had when he’d rung the doorbell. When he spoke again, after some time, his voice sounded much smaller.

“I just don’t understand how you did it.”

He removed the teabag and blew on his mug, avoiding Logan’s eyes. The bespectacled man threw his own teabag away and faced his best friend.

“How I did what?”

“You’ve never even looked for love. Like, I’ve known you for what, twenty years? And not once have you been interested in finding love. Moreover, you’ve known Remus for as long as you’ve been friends with me, and nothing ever happened between you two until a year ago. I’ve been trying so hard to be popular and find love, for what? One-night stands and flings with people only interested in my fame and money. You’re gonna tell me love just happened to you?”

Logan sipped his tea and gathered his thoughts. As much as Roman was used to listening to Logan’s explanations, the latter was used to hearing his friend vent.

“I guess you could say that. Some people say that love might come to you when you least expect it.”

Roman grunted but didn’t say anything and drank his tea instead.

“I wasn’t expecting anything to happen with your brother, but it’s a fact that we have many points in common. Do you want any advice?”

“If you have any, please oblige.”

“I’d say the best you can do is to lie low and be patient. You’ve seen what happens when you’re outgoing. Maybe you should be yourself, you know, the “you” that you are when you’re with me or our brothers.”

“I don’t-”

“Roman. Every actor or singer has a separate life and behavior when they’re in the public eye from when they’re with friends and family. You’re no exception to the rule. You know that you behave differently when you’re out for business from when you’re “chilling” at your house.”

The quotation marks that were distinct in Logan’s voice made Roman smile.

“I hope this will help you. Now, as I mentioned before, I’d like to take a nap before Remus comes home.”

“Sure, I’ll leave you to it.”

Roman left his half empty mug on the counter and exited the house with a small goodbye.

Once Roman was outside and started walking, hands in his jeans’ pockets, he frowned. How was he supposed to lie low? After all those years of knowing him, Logan should know that it wasn’t in his genes to stay calm and without moving for more than a few minutes.

Even when they were in school together, Roman had always applied for the most extra-curricular activities he could handle. He’d done choir, theater, band, cheerleading, he’d tried football and swimming before realizing he and sports didn’t really match.

And now that he was a known voice actor and singer, Roman was constantly moving around the town, the state, the country for new jobs and inspiration for songs. He couldn’t just sit around and wait for love to come at him.

Yet it was his life goal to find love, and he felt that Logan’s advice was a good lead to achieve it.

After some more brooding and thinking, Roman realized he’d reached the town’s aquarium. He considered visiting it, sighed and bought a ticket. Once he was inside, he let his feet carry him, just like they’d brought him to this place, and stared at the animals swimming around in tanks or lounging on fake ice.

Logan’s words about patience came back to him and Roman found himself once again in his thoughts.

Roman had never been patient. If he wanted good grades, the lead role in the school’s play or the solo in the band’s latest piece, he made sure to get it. That was how he’d gotten where he was now. Did Logan really think he’d become famous by sitting around and waiting for an opportunity to come to him?

“Be patient and be yourself, right.” Roman muttered as he stopped in front of yet another tank.

He didn’t even know what kind of animal he was staring at. He was too preoccupied by new questions.

_Who am I? How can I be myself?_

Roman had never realized it, but he could see now that there was one him for when he was acting and singing and attending galas, and one him for when he was venting to Logan, screaming at Remus or having a movie night with Logan, Remus and Patton, Logan’s older brother.

The thing was, that other version of him, the true him, he could see it less and less. He was twenty-seven years old and only now was he starting to question his true identity.

“That’s a peaceful view, wouldn’t you agree?”

Roman jumped as a voice spoke right next to him, pulling him back to reality.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The singer turned to his left, where a man was standing, barely looking at him. He was shorter than him, not by much, and had brown hair died a dirty blonde (Roman could see the roots showing). A small smile was on his face as he watched the dolphins play together.

“You looked like you could use some company, even though I think the dolphins make some pretty great companions.”

Roman looked back at the tank. The guy was right; the dolphins looked like they could cheer up anybody, and Roman knew he wasn’t feeling so down. Yet, he’d been standing in front of them, staring blankly at them for a few minutes, and he wasn’t feeling any better.

“Yeah, they do,” Roman sighed. “I was looking for a distraction, but my thoughts have been stronger than this sight.”

“I’m Damon.” The guy introduced himself and, after a beat, Roman looked at him.

Damon was looking at him, an expecting look on his face, as if he were waiting for Roman to say something.

“Oh! Sorry. I’m Roman.”

With all the years he’d been in the showbusiness, he’d expect almost everyone in this small town to know who he was, yet this guy seemed to have genuinely not known his name. Then again, Roman guessed he was known for his voice more than for his face.

Damon smiled with a little laugh.

“It’s nice to meet you, Roman.”

The man turned his head back to the dolphins and looked as if he were deep in thought.

“I’m a caretaker here. I look after the dolphins, the sharks, and the orcas, mostly. They can teach you some pretty great lessons about life when you know them. And I love to come talk to them when I’m feeling down.”

Roman lifted an eyebrow and looked between the tank and Damon.

“You talk to them?”

“Yes, they’re great listeners. More than some people I’ve talked to.”

Roman thought of his brother and sighed.

“Yeah, I get that.”

Damon suddenly turned back to Roman, his eyes full of something Roman knew very well. Passion.

“Have you already seen the sharks?”

“Probably, I haven’t really been paying attention.”

“Well, let me show you something you haven’t noticed for sure.”

Roman followed after the guy. If he admitted it, he was curious about him. They walked, Roman slightly behind Damon, up to the tank where sharks were swimming around lazily. Roman was surprised when Damon seemed to wave at a shark, and even more so when a shark actually stopped in front of them and stared.

“This one’s my favorite.” Damon said. “His name is Sharpie and we have something in common. Can you see the scar on his face?”

Thinking that it was the first time he was intentionally staring at a shark’s face, Roman noticed a scar on the left side of its face.

“He was trapped by hunters and he bit on a spear. Somehow, he managed to escape, but it opened that side of his jaw. Our team found and rescued him from the other sharks that had begun to smell his blood. We took him in, cured him and now he lives happily with the others. He’s still afraid of people, sometimes, but with me he’s okay. Guess I look familiar somehow.”

At these words, Roman turned to him and Damon shifted, allowing him to see the scar spreading from the corner of his mouth almost up to his ear. He couldn’t have noticed it before, because Damon had been on his left side and had never watched him straight into the eyes.

“I’ve never seen a scar like that. Is your story as sad as Sharpie’s?”

Damon smiled and Roman hoped it wasn’t because of the story.

“My dad was abusive to me and my mom.” Damon introduced.

It had Roman thinking that the smile might have been because his reaction to the scar wasn’t one people usually have. But it wasn’t a thin line on a face that was going to scare Roman.

“My dad was the typical drunk father who didn’t really know what to do with his life and how to take care of himself.” Damon continued. “He couldn’t maintain a job for more than a few weeks, would get drunk or high every day, seemed to be in his own world until he noticed the presence of me or my mom. Most of the time he would just joke with us and pass out on the couch, but a lot of the time, he would get angry for no reason. I watched him be violent towards my mom, shout at her, use ugly insults. When he was done with her, he would usually have the same attitude with me. He never lifted a hand on me but the rest of it was identical.”

Roman was horrified by what he was hearing and wanted to ask so many questions and he had so many things to say about that stupid father, but Damon was ahead of him.

“My mom loved him too much to say anything to the police. The only thing she ever managed to do was to hide me so that my dad couldn’t get to me and she would get all his anger instead of me. I was too young to know that something was wrong with him and that it wasn’t how fathers should behave with their family, because it was all I’d known. The neighbors were the ones to complain, but every time the police came to the house, they couldn’t find evidence of violence.”

Roman finally let out a grunt as his first reaction to that story beside balling his fist and frowning. Damon looked at him and smiled.

“Yeah, I know. My mom was wise enough to lock up all sharp objects in case my dad became too drunk to even know what he was holding. I don’t really know if she did it for him or me. I just know it wasn’t really for herself. But she hadn’t thought that a letter opener would be sharp enough to hurt.”

Roman gasped, beginning to see where this was going.

“One day when he was particularly delirious, he thought he was a circus knife juggler and threw the letter opener. Neither of us had expected that it would catch me in the cheek and open it in half. My mom called 911 and they were able to patch me up. That was enough for the police to lock him away for twenty years.”

“How… how old were you at the time?” Roman asked, his voice a bit shaky after hearing all of this without speaking.

“I was eight, so… he should come out of prison in about two years.”

“You’re twenty-six?” Roman had never been so fast at math.

Damon laughed a little, probably surprised that Roman wasn’t directly reacting to everything he’d just heard.

“Yeah, how old are you?”

“Twenty-seven. But… um, does your scar hurt?”

“No, not anymore,” Damon shook his head. “It hurt a lot in the first few months after it got sewed up, so I didn’t really laugh or smile or even cry during that time. But now it’s okay, even though I can still feel it.”

“Are you close with your mom?”

Damon looked taken aback for a second. He’d probably never spoken to someone with such a range of reactions. But for Roman, it was normal to jump from one subject to another one that wasn’t directly related.

“Yes, but I don’t see her as much. I moved in here a year ago, but I still call her from time to time.”

“That’s good.” Roman nodded.

He didn’t know what to say or do anymore. A man he’d just met had confided in him, told him about his fragile childhood, and he didn’t want to offer pity, because it wasn’t what he felt. He’d gone through doubt, sadness, anger and confusion in a matter of minutes and now he didn’t know how he felt anymore.

“Well, I have to go back to the orcas,” Damon cut the silence for him. “But I would like to get to know you. Are you free in a few hours?”

Roman wasn’t surprised at Damon’s forwardness – he’d had a lot of that because of his career – but he still hesitated before answering. He thought about Logan’s words. _Lie low and be patient._ For the first time in years, Roman considered refusing the offer, but Logan had said something else that rang louder in his head. _Love might come to you when you least expect it_. He didn’t know if he’d find love – or if love would find him – with Damon, but it was worth a try.

“I… I think I should go home and rest.” Roman finally spoke up. “But I’d love to get drinks with you tomorrow night, if you’re free?”

Damon’s face lit up with a smile – the first real one since Roman had met him.

“Yes, sure! Why don’t you give me your phone so I can add my number? And you’ll text me the details.”

Roman smiled and relaxed as he handed his phone to Damon. After a few seconds, he put it back in his pocket and said goodbye to Damon before exiting the center.

That afternoon had been a lot, emotionally, but Roman was beginning to see some light through the shadow of his doubts.

*

“Of course, ma’am, thank you! See you tomorrow.”

Patton sighed once the lady was out of his sight. Some people just liked to talk about themselves, didn’t they?

He turned towards his classroom and walked through it, checking that every child had gone home safe with their parents, until he arrived at the drawing corner. He glanced at his watch, which informed him that there was still three minutes to go before it was six.

“What do we have here?” Patton asked as he crouched down next to the boy who was drawing.

The boy – Remy, Patton knew because he was in his class, but it was the first time he stayed after school – looked at him but didn’t say anything. He simply smiled and finished his drawing in silence.

“It’s me and daddy!” Remy announced when he set down his pencils.

Patton accepted the drawing and looked closely at it. For a four-year-old, he’d drawn a lot of details: Patton could see two distinct figures, one tall and apparently dressed in purple and black, one small and dressed in black and white. They seemed to be having a picnic on a green and red quilt, and there were even birds flying around them.

“This is very good, Remy. Are you going to give this to your dad when he comes to pick you up?”

The kid nodded energetically, his smile displaying small white teeth.

“Daddy loves when I give him drawings! He puts them everywhere in the house.”

“Well, that’s cute.” Patton smiled before checking his watch again.

6.02

_Now would be a good time to come, Remy’s dad._

When he looked down again, Remy was cleaning the table, putting all the colored pencils in their place.

 _This kid is so precious_ , thought Patton as he stood up, seeing him leave for the reading corner.

“Hello? Is someone here?”

“Yes! In here!” Patton called back.

As he turned around, a man came from behind a bookshelf. He bent over, catching his breath as if he’d just been running a marathon, and stood back up to look at Patton. The kindergarten teacher was surprised to see such an emo look on a grown man. The guy was wearing torn, black jeans and a purple shirt with a large, black hoodie, and there was eyeshadow under his eyes. Patton had to admit, though, it suited him.

He didn’t always see the parents of the children in his class, but Patton was sure he’d remember if he’d already seen this man.

“I’m so sorry for being late, I closed the shop a little late and then I was stuck in traffic. I’m sorry that you have to stay so late and-”

“It’s okay,” Patton interrupted him with a warm smile. “It’s my job to look after children and I love it, it’s not a bother at all. Besides, Remy is very quiet, it’s a pleasure to have him here. It’s the first time he stays after school, right?”

The man seemed to relax at these words and smiled.

“Yes, I’ve started a new job and with my schedule, the only possibility for me is to leave him at daycare. I wish there was some other way but… money’s not gonna fall from trees.”

Patton felt his heart squeeze as the guy scratched his neck.

“Right… Remy? Your dad’s here!”

They heard footsteps and Remy came around the corner, his drawing clutched in his hand.

“Daddy!” He leapt in his father’s arms. “I made this for you!”

The man looked at the paper sheet and smiled.

“Thank you, Rem. I’ll put this one in the living room, right?”

Remy nodded and kissed his father on the cheek.

“Aww.” Patton couldn’t help himself.

As if it were a reminder for his presence, the other man looked back at him and cleared his throat.

“Well, thank you for everything, mister Mitchell.”

“Please, call me Patton.”

“Oh um… sure, well, thanks, Patton. I’ll see you tomorrow. Say goodbye, Remy?”

“Bye-bye, Patton!”

The teacher smiled and waved as they made their way out of the room. He then made sure everything was cleaned up, turned off the lights and locked the door.

On the way to his car, Patton found himself thinking of Remy and his dad. He wished the man hadn’t been saying sorry or thanks so much, because he was only doing his job. He’d set up this afterschool daycare for children whose parents couldn’t pick up right at the end of classes, not only in his class but also for other children from the school. It had had a lot of success from the day he started it, two years ago, and nothing made Patton happier than being able to help families.

Then, a weird thought hit him. He didn’t know his name. Well, it wasn’t weird that he didn’t know it, it was weird that it made him feel weird. After all, he didn’t need to know the name of every parent he met; remembering the kids’ names was already hard work. However, Patton felt strongly that he wanted to know the man’s name and be able to help him.

As he sat down in his car, he guessed that he had two choices; he could either look in the register and find his name somehow, or he could ask him directly. Either way, a warm feeling grew in his chest at the thought of getting to know him.

***


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roceit's first date, meet Remus + Intrulogical night out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: mention of alcohol and hospitals (unrelated)

When Roman left his apartment for his date that night, he was feeling more confident and happier than he had been the day before. When he’d decided to ask Logan for advice, he’d known something good would come out of it. That was how they’d worked for most of the time since they’d become friends. When Roman had a problem, he’d ask Logan and Logan always provided useful help. It worked the other way around too, though Logan didn’t usually need as much help as Roman did.

Obviously, Roman had left his friend’s house feeling quite down and surprised, because the discussion hadn’t gone as he’d expected. But when he’d arrived back at his apartment the night before, Roman had felt like something good could happen with Damon, even though he wanted to try and follow Logan’s advice about being patient.

Roman reached the bar where he’d said he’d meet Damon and was surprised to see him already there, waiting for him outside the building.

“Hey, I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long.” Roman started with a smile.

It was nearing the end of October and spending time outside at night wasn’t as comfortable as it was in the summer.

“Oh no, don’t worry, I just got here.” Damon smiled back.

Roman pulled the door open and invited him in. They took a seat at a small table in a corner, hoping to get to know each other without being bothered and while hearing what the other was saying.

“I’ll go get our drinks,” Roman said once they’d taken their coats off. “What do you want?”

“I think I’ll start with a non-alcoholic cocktail.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back.”

Roman strode off to the bar where he asked for two house specials, one alcoholic and one not. As he waited while the bartender made the drinks, Roman turned his head back to Damon. At the same time, Damon lifted his head towards him and smiled when he noticed that he was looking at him. Roman smiled back and wondered how he felt about all of this. He guessed this was just a night out with a new friend, where they would talk and get to know each other, and he would see where he wanted it to go from then.

A minute later, he was sitting back in front of Damon, sliding his drink on the table.

“There you go. I was wondering, do you never drink alcohol? I know it’s something that a lot of people with a past like yours resolve to do.”

Damon sipped his drink before answering.

“Yeah, I decided on this when I was about sixteen or seventeen years old, but with time, I’ve realized that I don’t particularly want to drink alcohol.”

“I understand. Well, maybe I’ll try to drink less when I’m with you.”

Damon smiled at Roman, which made him realize that this seemed very forward. Roman was used to being forward, that was how he was, but this time he wanted to wait for Damon to make the moves, because he definitely didn’t want another unwanted relationship.

“So, why did you come talk to me yesterday?” Roman asked, trying to find out if Damon was the forward type as he was beginning to think.

“I found you attractive at first, but you should know that it’s not all that I look for in a guy.” Damon explained with an honest smile. Roman realized that this might seem like a weird subject for a beginning-of-the-night conversation, but it felt like a normal topic. “I took a closer look at you and noticed that you seemed a bit down, as I mentioned, and I couldn’t understand how someone could look so sad standing in front of dolphins.”

Roman laughed. When you put it like that, it sure seemed like he was depressed, because he loved animals and dolphins are quite cheerful animals.

“Besides, once we got to talking, even if I knew there was still more we could say, I knew that you weren’t just a pretty face.”

“Well, thanks, but I don’t feel like we’ve done a lot of talking.” Roman said, and then realized how weird it sounded. “I mean, you’ve told me your story, I kind of told you why I was there, but other than that… all I know about you is your name, your age and your sad backstory.”

Damon laughed and drank from his glass.

“Yeah, you’re right. But your reaction to my scar and my story gave me enough leads to see where this could go. Besides that, it’s true that I also only know your name and age.”

Roman nodded. “So, how about we actually start getting to know each other?”

Damon, in turn, nodded and set his joined hands down on the table. “Let’s start with your job, since you know mine.”

Roman hesitated for a second. On rare occasions when he’d dated guys who hadn’t come to him because of his fame, he had lied about his career. He knew well enough how people could get if they knew someone famous. Yet somehow, he didn’t feel like lying to Damon.

“I’m a singer and a voice actor. I’ve got one album out and I now have quite a large list of voices in animated movies and cartoons.”

Damon looked impressed and narrowed his eyes. “I thought I’d heard your voice somewhere.”

Roman widened his eyes. At that point, he’d figured Damon absolutely didn’t know who he was, but as he told him his full name – Roman Rossi – and they started talking about some characters he’d voiced, he could see that it wasn’t the case. He was pleasantly surprised, however, when Damon asked what the process of voice acting was instead of asking if he’d met famous people throughout his career, as most people did when they learned who he was.

Roman was happy to talk about his job, because it was the only constant in his life at the moment, the only thing he felt sure of after having reflected upon himself the previous day. He took the chance to ask Damon more about his own job, making it a two-way conversation.

After talking about their jobs for a while, Damon and Roman sipped their cocktails silently. Roman had half a dozen conversation subjects in mind, but he didn’t really know which one to start with. He glanced at Damon and his eyes stopped on his scar.

“So… Why exactly did you tell me your whole backstory when you didn’t even know me?”

Damon set his glass back on the table and shifted so that he was leaning back in his seat. “I guess I felt comfortable telling you. You said you needed a distraction and it was the first thing I thought of.”

Roman laughed. “It was pretty distracting, that’s for sure.”

Damon smiled at him and continued. “I also normally don’t tell strangers my story, because obviously that’s not something everyone should know. But I was interested in getting to know you, as I said, so I figured I’d do it at some point anyway. It was kind of a way to know if I had a chance with you, because I don’t like when people think of the scar more than anything else when they see me.”

Roman lifted his eyebrows. “Do you want to know what I think of when I see you, then?”

Damon smiled and took his glass back in his hand. Roman suddenly found him very classy. “Sure, that way I’ll be certain.”

“When I see you, I think of someone who has gorgeous eyes and a really nice smile that I would love to see a lot. I see someone generous, caring and unafraid of putting others before himself. And I think of someone who doesn’t like me for my fame, and that does me a lot of good.”

Damon nodded, looking as if he didn’t know how to react. “Well, I wasn’t expecting all of that, but I’m glad. Thank you.”

Roman nodded and took his drink to his lips, sensing a blush creeping to his cheeks. He was starting to feel that Logan’s advice to lay low was beginning to fade out to the back of his mind. But before he could regret his words, Damon stood up, interrupting his thoughts.

“I’m going to get another round of drinks, what do you want?”

“Um, anything, same as you.” Roman blurted out. Damon smiled and Roman remembered that it would be rude not to smile back before he left for the bar.

Roman sighed, sliding down on his chair, and rubbed his face with his hands.

He’d told himself that for once he would listen to his best friend’s advice on his love life, because if it had worked for Logan surely it would work for him too, and yet here he was, one day later, completely throwing that advice out the window.

He pretended not to be startled when the sound of glasses being set on the table brought him back to the present, and looked at Damon, who was sitting back down.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now,” Damon said.

“Go ahead, I’ll try to answer.”

“Can I ask what had you looking so down yesterday?”

Roman took his glass and brought it to his lips, not bothering to ask what Damon had ordered. When he looked back at him and noticed that Damon was still watching him, he sighed. He had begun to think that he would manage to avoid that subject for the night.

“Yeah, I guess. Maybe sharing it will make me feel better.” Roman took one more gulp of his drink before setting the glass back on the table. He glanced back at Damon, who smiled encouragingly without a word, showing that he would listen.

“So… Yesterday, before I came to the aquarium, I went to my best friend’s house- or my brother’s house. I never know what to call it anymore.” He sighed dramatically. “They’ve been together for more than a year, and I’m still not used to it. I must admit, at first I was jealous of my brother because there have been times in my twenty years of friendship with Logan – that’s my best friend – when I’ve doubted my feelings for him, and Remus – my brother – who’s known him for as long as he’s been my friend, suddenly starts dating him and after six months they’re in love and living together. I’ve also been jealous of Logan for finding love when I’ve never found it, but lately… I’ve just been wondering how he did it and what I’m doing wrong.”

Roman drank from his glass to give a break to Damon. And that was only the background.

“I told him that and he said that he didn’t do anything special and that ‘love might come to you when you least expect it’, and he told me to lie low and be patient. As you might have understood by now, I’m generally kind of boisterous and loud, but I realized yesterday that I actually put on a façade with people outside of my family. So… what had me looking so down was that I was wondering who I really am.”

Their eyes met and Roman was surprised to see compassion. Well, not really, because he’d already understood that Damon was the empathetic kind.

“I think that, as humans, the question of who we are is one that haunts us our whole life. But I also think that we can find ourselves thanks to our friends and family, and through what we like. So, what do you like?”

Roman had never been so grateful in his life. He realized this was how Damon must have felt after he saw his reaction to the scar and the story. Damon wasn’t questioning anything or judging his thoughts, he was helping him.

“I like my job, that’s for sure. But I know my job won’t really help me find who I am, because the fun of it is that I get to be different.”

“I’m sure that you like other things,” Damon smiled.

“Yeah, I like music and movies and musicals, which is also basically my job.”

Damon laughed and Roman followed him, feeling some of the tension and insecurity leave.

“Next thing you’re going to tell me that you watch movies the same way you do your job.”

Roman shrugged. “I do try to impersonate people in order to find new voices.”

They laughed again. Damon spent the next twenty minutes helping Roman talk about himself, and Roman realized it was actually a great way to get to know each other, so he tried to do the same with him. They realized it was running late when they were able to hear each other easily.

“I have work tomorrow, so I guess I should head back.” Damon stretched and looked around the bar.

“Yeah, I don’t even know how long it will take me to go back home.”

Damon looked at him with surprise. “You came by foot?”

“By bus, but I doubt that I’ll catch one at this hour. I had originally thought I would be _drinking_ tonight.”

Damon smiled. “I can give you a ride if you want.”

Roman raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind being the designated driver. Not that I’ve often played that role.”

“Well then, my feet will thank you.” Roman immediately frowned at that. “What am I even saying.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve heard weirder things from people less drunk than you.”

They got up and dressed and agreed to split the bill in two.

Once in the car, they managed to carry their discussion in between directions. They reached Roman’s apartment and talked for a few more minutes in the car.

“I had a great time,” Damon said after a few seconds of silence in which they both understood that they would be saying goodbye.

“Me too. Actually, I’d love to see you again some time soon.”

Damon hummed. “Well, I’ve heard there is going to be a Halloween horror night in a park nearby and I was planning to go. Maybe you could go with me?”

“Oh gosh yes, I love Halloween!”

“Well then, I guess we’ll see each other in a week. I’ll text you.”

Roman got out of the car and into his apartment. When he lay down in his bed, he was feeling as happy and confident as he was at the beginning of the night.

*

A pair of arms circled Logan’s neck as he was reading a book, sat on a couch with some classical music playing softly through the living room.

“Good evening, darling.”

Logan set down his book and turned around to kiss Remus.

“Hello, love. How was your day?”

“Boring. I had so many reports left behind that the Chief had me sitting in my office all day. I’m sure I missed out on all the fun!” Remus complained while going around the couch to sit down next to his boyfriend. He sighed and lay on his back, laying his head on Logan’s lap. “I bet your day was more interesting.”

“Hmm, compared to yours, I guess it was. I had a few operations but also a lot of check ups on patients. You know that to me, this is as boring as writing reports is for you.”

“Do you have work tomorrow?” Remus asked, stretching his arms above his head.

“No, I have the weekend off.”

“And did you have plans for tonight?”

“No…” Logan frowned lightly. “Remus, you can ask me whatever you want to directly, you know?”

“Yeah, I do, but I wanted to make sure my plans were okay. I want to take you to the cinema. There’s a new post-apocalyptic movie that I’ve been wanting to watch.”

“Oh, sure, that sounds good. Do you want to eat here, or should we go somewhere?”

Remus smiled widely. “It’s been a while since we’ve eaten out.”

“Alright, then it’s settled. Let’s go get ready.” Logan smiled back, gently lifting his boyfriend’s head to stand up.

Half an hour later, they were sitting down at a Chinese restaurant. It reminded Logan of their first date at all, before they agreed to be in a relationship.

Sometimes, even after more than one year, Logan could hardly believe that they fell in love in such a short amount of time after they’d known each other for about twenty years. All it had taken had been one case on which they had happened to work together.

Remus, as a forensics scientist, had come to the hospital for an investigation in which the victim had been badly hurt but had thankfully not died. He and his detective colleague had come to talk to the victim and collect the details of what had happened. Logan was the doctor in charge of doing the report to them, being one of the doctors who took part in the operation. Later, Remus had told him that he had found him very sexy while focused on his job, but at the time, he had only made a snarky remark as always. ( _“Well I’ll be damned, Logan. Who knew it would take so long for me to see you looking so good.” “I don’t know, Remus, maybe that means for once you’re staying safe.”_ ). They had both spent some days thinking about that moment and remembering some of the time they had spent together, which had proven to be quite a lot.

Surprisingly for both of them, it was Logan who had reached out first and had asked him out on a date. Remus hadn’t hesitated in saying yes, but he had told Logan much later – when he’d admitted finding him sexy – that he’d hoped he didn’t only have a doctor kink. He had been glad to discover that it was not the case once they’d started talking during dinner. They had found out that they both had a passion for science (hence their jobs and the choice of a sci-fi movie for the night) and that their curiosity was their best trait but also worked for their loss sometimes (like the times when Roman or their colleagues would look at them weirdly because of something they’d found exciting when it wasn’t necessarily their case).

After the dinner and the movie, which they had enjoyed but had secretly preferred the fact that they’d gotten to spend time alone with the other and get to know things they didn’t about the other, Remus had asked Logan how he wanted things to continue and Logan had said he supposed they could start a relationship. In the beginning it had been a lot of talking and spending time just the two of them (they had discovered that they were able to talk more when Roman wasn’t around), until they shared their first kiss and realized that they loved each other. It hadn’t actually been hard to realize that they liked each other, they just hadn’t noticed it before because they hadn’t properly gotten to know each other mainly because of the fact that Remus was Roman’s brother.

“Logan, cutie, what are you thinking about?” Remus pulled him out of his thoughts and back to the awareness of his surroundings.

Logan huffed and smiled gently. “I was remembering our first date and how it all began. Doesn’t it ever seem weird to you?”

“That we’re together?”

Logan tilted his head a little. “That we got together so fast after so many years.”

Remus laughed softly. “I guess, yeah, sometimes it’s still weird to think about it. But look at what happens when Roman isn’t stifling me.”

He extended his hand and took Logan’s in it. Those last words caused Logan to remember his conversation with his best friend at the beginning of the week. They hadn’t talked about it since, so he didn’t know whether he’d taken his advice into consideration at all, but all he could do now was hope that it worked for the best for him.

Logan focused back on Remus and squeezed his hand, before looking at the menu in front of him so that they could order.

After a delicious meal and an exciting time at the cinema, Logan and Remus carried an animated discussion in the car. The bespectacled man had never admitted it, even to himself, but their debates was what he enjoyed the most about going to see a movie with his boyfriend. Most of the time they agreed on everything, so he wouldn’t call that a debate, rather a dialogue displaying their point of views, but the feeling was the same. Whether Logan was simply listening to Remus exploring different theories about what could’ve happened differently, what could happen after the timeline of the movie, or he was interjecting because he had to remind his lover that science could not be neglected, these were treasured times.

“No, but what I’m saying is, he could’ve-”

“Remus, that’s not possible-”

“You’re not even listening to what I’m saying!” Remus chuckled.

“Of course I am, silly. But for the love of science, please stop saying nonsense.”

When he didn’t immediately reply, Logan dared to take his eyes off the road for a second and looked at him. Remus was staring at him with a grin that was amused and evil at the same time, his moustache quirking up at the left side of his mouth, but the look in his eyes was clearly expressing fondness.

“What?” Logan asked, turning his eyes back to the road.

“Do you know that I love when you call me silly?”

Logan almost smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve noticed that you tend to act the way you know that will get me to call you that quite often.”

“Okay good, just making sure. Now, must I remind you that I’m a forensics _scientist_ , therefore I know a lot about science?”

Logan rolled his eyes and the sigh that he let out resembled a laugh. “I know that, don’t use big words to get to me.”

“I’m not doing that!” Remus said with feigned ignorance, placating a hand to his chest in such a gesture that Logan saw it even from the corner of his eye. “I just wanted to let you know that I know what I’m saying isn’t logical from a scientific perspective, but the whole movie wasn’t, and I was just making suggestions in the context of the movie.”

“I know that, but your ideas didn’t even make any sense in that context,” Logan countered as he pulled up in their driveway.

“You can just say that you disagree.” Remus giggled and unlocked his seatbelt to turn towards his boyfriend.

Logan turned off the car and undid his own seatbelt before replying. “I disagree with you, because I loved the movie and I wouldn’t want it to have been done any other way.”

“There you go!” Remus smiled before bending over the console and kissing him. Logan kissed back, lifting his hand to his boyfriend’s hair.

“We should go inside.” He pulled away and opened the door. He was in the middle of gathering his phone, wallet, and keys when Remus said, “I love the way you think.”

Logan got out of the car and bent over to look at him.

“You better hurry up before I change my mind.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think of the characters now that you've seen snippets of all the ships dynamics! (Don't worry, there are still plenty more different dynamics to come!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roceit's Halloween date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: Halloween-related stuff, mention of alcohol and slight PTSD

Roman spent the following week looking for information about the Halloween night Damon had mentioned, so that when he texted him to set a meeting place and time, Roman was ready. They agreed to meet directly in front of the park, and Roman decided that he would go by foot, because it really wasn’t far from his house. (He actually knew that park very well, because he often took walks through it to gather inspiration for his songs.)

And so, ten minutes before eight, Roman left his apartment, a light bounce in his step and a gentle humming on his lips. He was looking forward to seeing what the park would look like. The town liked to organize events for big holidays, but it was the first time they did one in this park and he didn’t know what to expect.

As he reached the park before Damon, he took the opportunity to look around from where he stood. A lot of people were already there, some still entering and some families leaving; a large banner above the gates said ‘Halloween Fest 2019’ and there were ropes with bats hanging underneath it; from where he was, Roman could spot several food and drink stands and all sorts of Halloween decorations (skeletons, pumpkins, zombies, you name it) all through the park. He also noticed a board with the program of the night, and some direction signs indicating the different spots where special events took place.

“Hi.” A voice surprised him out of his thoughts. Roman turned around and smiled upon seeing Damon. He was wearing a yellow button-up shirt with a bowler hat and black skinny jeans. It was a look that seemed very cartoony to Roman, and he would know, but he suddenly found that it looked great on him. So great in fact, that he felt a bit out of place with his simple plain red hoodie and blue jeans.

Damon tilted his head and the movement made Roman realize that he hadn’t said anything. “Hi. Oh my gosh I’m sorry, you just- you look good.”

The shorter man chuckled. “Thanks, you look good too.”

Roman dismissed this with his hand. “Please, have you seen yourself? I look like a commoner.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, but believe me, this color suits you.”

Unused to people genuinely complementing him, Roman shifted on his feet before turning towards the park. “Shall we?”

He barely saw Damon’s smile and headshake as he walked through the gates, headed to the activities board.

“Did you come by car?” Roman asked, trying to make small talk to distract the other man from his weird behavior.

“Yes, that’s why I was a bit late. I hadn’t anticipated that there would be so many people.”

“It’s no problem. I took a look at the activities on the site, but I haven’t decided what I wanted to start with.”

They stopped in front of the board and Damon read it quickly.

“Well, I was interested in the movie they’re showing at nine, but before that… we could simply walk through the park and stop wherever something seems interesting.”

“Sounds great.”

Their first stop was at a drink truck that sold all sorts of cocktails with funny names and unusual ingredients. As they started walking through the park, sipping on their drinks, Damon spoke up.

“So, how is your soul searching so far?”

Roman could have stopped walking because of his surprise, but he simply glanced at the other man with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you not know that phrase?” Damon asked with amusement and a hint of genuine astonishment. “I mean, have you thought about who you might be, after our discussion last week?”

“Oh.” Roman deadpanned, looking in front of him again. “Of course I know that phrase, I just didn’t see how it was related to me. But um, yeah, I guess I did think about all of that, even though I haven’t found an answer yet.”

Damon must have heard the drop in his tone at the end of that sentence, because he nudged him to look at him. “Hey, it’s okay. I told you that it’s a question we can be asking ourselves for all our life, nobody would expect you to completely know yourself at twenty-seven.”

Once again, Roman averted his gaze and drank from his cup in hopes that Damon wouldn’t see the doubt behind that action.

“Were you thinking that?” How could Roman pretend to be an actor when this new friend saw clearly through him after ten days of knowing him?

“Well…” The singer trailed off, judging it best not to directly lie to him. “It’s just that… Logan and Remus are my age, you know, and I feel like they know perfectly who they are.”

Damon let out a sigh and Roman, by taking one quick glance at him, knew that it was more fond than it was exasperated. Even though he didn’t know exactly why that still made him feel stones in his stomach.

“I know that, being a twin and all, you might be used to comparing yourself to other people. But knowing oneself isn’t about the others, it’s about yourself. So, yeah, maybe your brother and your best friend know who they are and are content with where they are in life, maybe they aren’t. And what does it matter if it’s the case, and how old they are? If you want to find yourself, you should concentrate your thoughts on you. And you know, I’ve been thinking maybe, in order to figure this all out, a bit of change might be good. Maybe you should try new activities, audition for different kinds of roles, meet new people.”

Roman gave him an incredulous look and gestured around. “This is a new activity, and you are a new person.”

“Exactly,” Damon smiled. “How does that make you feel about yourself?”

Roman pondered on it, emptying his cup. He threw it in a garbage bin before replying. “I think that it makes me feel good. I’ve never really had true friends besides Logan, and since he started dating Remus, I guess I’ve distanced myself from them both. I don’t really go out anymore, except for when I go on walks to find inspiration for songs. So, yeah, it’s a good change to have met you.”

They smiled at each other, not needing to add anything more because their looks already conveyed quite a lot of sentiments. Roman broke it, noticing something behind Damon.

“Oh, why did I not see that they were doing this?”

He strode off to a stand that announced ‘ _Bobbing for apples’_ , and Damon followed him uncertainly.

“Can we do this? Do you want to try this?”

Damon started to smile at Roman’s excitement, but quickly looked down at his shirt and back to the tank filled with apples floating on the water. “I- I don’t-”

Roman interrupted him by pulling on his hand. “Oh come on, you won’t get wet if you do it properly. Besides, it’s just water. Please?”

The shorter man couldn’t hold his laugh. “Yeah, okay, but if I do get wet, you’re going to pay for it.”

“Whatever,” Roman rolled his eyes before going towards the lady hosting the game.

She explained the rules, which he already knew and were pretty evident. Put your hands behind your back and try to catch an apple with your mouth. Roman went to stand beside the tub and turned to Damon again when he didn’t immediately follow him.

“Come on, take your hat off and have some fun.”

It was Damon’s turn to roll his eyes, not unkindly, before he lifted one hand to his head to remove his hat and the other went straight through his hair. Roman suddenly had an urge to do it for him, because it seemed very soft and inviting. Feeling himself blush, he turned back to the tub and got into position, not waiting for a second before plunging his mouth in the water. The movement created waves that sent all surrounding apples floating far from him and splashed him in the face a bit. Roman heard Damon’s soft laugh close to his ear and turned to him, finding him right next to him, bending over.

“I think you have to be a little gentler,” he smiled, leaning towards the water as if he were about to kiss it.

Roman found himself wondering why he had suggested playing this game. He probably wouldn’t have done it, had he known that this kind of sight would send chills running down his spine and along his arms. He focused back to the patch of apples in front of him.

They went at it for a few minutes, occasionally bumping into each other as they chased after apples. It was the kind of activity that always looked easier to accomplish when it wasn’t you that did it, Roman thought. He managed to catch an apple all of five seconds before Damon. It didn’t give him a lot of time to savor his victory before the blonde man leaned back up, water drooling from his mouth. He took the apple out of it with one hand, the other coming up to massage his jaw as he licked his lips. Roman only noticed the wondering look in his eyes when he looked up at them. He immediately looked away and bit into his apple, walking back towards the path.

He wanted to blame it on the alcohol, but it wasn’t as if a single cocktail could make him lose all sense of composure, if he was being honest. He felt Damon’s presence at his side before he spoke up.

“I’m not mad at you, you know?”

Roman gulped down his bite. “That makes one of us.”

“What?”

The singer looked up at him so fast that he thought he heard his neck crack. “I’m mad at myself. I don’t know why I feel like that.”

“Like what?” Damon asked, a brow arched.

“Nothing, forget I said anything.” Roman groaned internally and started walking faster, wanting to distance himself from the other man.

“Hey, Roman,” Damon called after him, like he wanted to show him something.

So, Roman stopped walking and turned around. Damon stood before him, a mischievous grin on his lips. He pointed at his shirt. “Seems I’ve managed to get myself wet.”

This time, Roman’s groan wasn’t internal as he realized the innuendo in this sentence that had already been pronounced without him noticing how weird it might sound. He looked at where Damon was pointing at his shirt, the few drops of water having left small but visible patches even in this lighting.

“And how do you want me to pay you back?” He asked in a tone that he hoped was innocent.

Damon started walking again, Roman scrambling to stay at his side. “I think I saw that they were doing a remake of Thriller’s choreography later tonight. I’d like to see you take part in it.”

Roman let out a relieved breath. “Oh, you’re so on.”

Damon turned to him with a dumbfounded look. “I’m the best at Just Dance. Sorry if that sounded humiliating to you, but I took dance lessons and, like, I thrive for it.”

Damon stared at him for a few more seconds before breaking into a laugh. “Yeah, it was how I meant it to be, but I think I’ll enjoy it either way.”

Feeling the atmosphere around them shift back to something pleasant, Roman felt glad for Damon’s reaction. He noticed the time and suggested they go over to where the movie was being showed. As he bit into his apple, he realized that what he had said before was true, about this night being good for him. He was kind of happy with not having entirely followed Logan’s advice and just acting on instinct. Damon was a good chance of pace for him.

*

After the movie, which Roman honestly didn’t find that scary, as he did for most old horror movies, they grabbed new drinks before heading to the Thriller recreation. As expected, Roman outdid himself and had a great time, and even managed to drag Damon on stage with him.

“You were the one supposed to be humiliated, and now I’m the one who made a fool of himself,” Damon said as they got offstage.

“You were great!” Roman shoved him playfully. “Have you ever considered becoming a dancer? Maybe you could start doing shows with your dolphins.”

Damon glared at him but there was no meanness to it. “Please make sure to tell me if you ever have any other idea to traumatize my animals.”

Roman laughed and they started wandering in the park again, quickly finding a truck that sold all kinds of hot drinks. With their coffees in hand, they fell into a pleasant silence. Roman had never thought he would associate these two words, but surprisingly and for the first time with Damon, he was at ease without talking.

“Is there anything else you want to do?” Damon asked.

Roman looked at the time and around them. It was getting close to eleven. “I don’t know. Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

“No, I took a day off. My co-worker owed me one, and I wanted to be able to enjoy tonight without thinking about tomorrow.”

Roman couldn’t exactly put words on how that made him feel, nor did he really understand why he felt so warm inside. “Oh, great then. I wanted to give ‘Pin the witch’ a go.”

Damon smiled at him. “Good idea.”

They quickly made their way to the place where that game was held. They waited for their turn, chatting idly, until the man in charge explained how the game worked. Excited to see how well he would do with throwing a dart at a cardboard witch, Roman turned to Damon.

“You want to go first?” The end of his sentence died in his throat when he saw the look on the other man’s face. “Are you okay?” Before Damon could reply, Roman’s eyes went down to the darts in his hand and back up at Damon. “Oh, this was a bad idea, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t have-”

“No, it’s okay,” Damon interrupted him. “I just needed a minute. I didn’t think- it’s not so bad anymore, usually, even though it still happens sometimes. I think I’ll never get used to needles.” The reassuring grin he shot at Roman didn’t serve its purpose. He patted his shoulder and turned him back around towards the witch. “Why don’t you go first?”

“You’re sure?” Roman glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. Go on,” Damon smiled.

Roman hesitantly smiled back and turned around, letting out a small sigh. He slipped the blindfold over his eyes after having assessed the situation. The main aims were the head – specifically in-between the eyes – and the heart. Being as good as he was at sports, Roman would be satisfied if he landed at least one of his three darts on the board. He breathed in and out, took aim, and threw the first dart with all his strength.

“Not bad,” came Damon’s chuckle from his left. “Try a little more to the left, though.”

Roman shifted and threw the second dart. He realized he should have put more force to it before his friend could comment on it and threw the last one without thinking.

“Good!” Roman took off the blindfold and waited for his eyes to adjust to the soft light.

“Huh.” He let out. The dart was pinned right on the witch’s hand that was holding a broom. In other words, he had barely landed it on the cardboard. “Good enough, yeah. Your turn.”

Roman gave the blindfold to Damon and went to fetch the darts from the board. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” He asked before handing them to him.

“Yes, don’t worry about me.” Damon grabbed the darts before he could add anything and got into position. By the time Roman admitted to himself that he did look fine, he’d already thrown the first dart. It landed on the witch’s stomach, at the exact center of the board. Damon peaked over the blindfold to get an idea of how he’d done, since Roman was less verbal in his reaction than he had been.

“I’m… stomached,” he let out.

Damon turned to him and laughed gently. “Good one.”

This seemed to take Roman out of the trance he was apparently in. “Ha, well. I do have the ability to crack a joke from time to time.” Or maybe it was just a result of hanging out with Logan and Patton, who mastered it, but Damon didn’t need to know that and Roman didn’t need to think about it.

He turned back towards the witch, put the blindfold on, and quickly threw his remaining darts. Right into the heart and the spot between the eyes. If Roman had been stomached before, now he… well, now he couldn’t even think of a word play.

“How in the world did you pull that off?”

Damon removed the blindfold, looked at his work and faced Roman with a satisfied smirk. “I might have acquired quite the agility from working with dangerous animals.”

Roman punched him on the arm and they went to the man in charge to restitute the material.

“Awesome job, man!” said the man, gesturing to the shelves behind him. “You’re one of the few who can choose a reward amongst these beauties.”

Roman looked between Damon and the shelves laden with plushies, action figures and the lot, all relatively Halloween-themed. Damon walked to one shelf and picked up a plushie representing a skeleton – which was, admittedly, really cute.

“Thank you guys, have a good night!”

They thanked him and walked away.

“Here, this is for you.” Damon handed the toy to Roman.

He looked at it with wide eyes. “Why? It’s you who deserves it.”

“Yeah, but I want to give it to you, and you can’t refuse a gift, can you?”

Roman accepted the plushie, trying to hide his smile and hoping that his hot cheeks didn’t mean he was blushing. “Thanks. It’s so cute.”

Damon smiled and Roman suddenly remembered what he’d told him the week before, about wanting to see him smile. He didn’t know how he’d achieved that so many times during the night, but apparently it didn’t take much to do it.

They walked in silence for a while, until Damon said, “I think we’ve seen about everything that was interesting, wouldn’t you agree?”

Roman did agree, but he also knew that it meant they would need to part ways and go home. Somehow, he wasn’t sure he wanted that. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said, nonetheless.

They kept walking quietly; Roman didn’t know what to say, turning the plushie over in his hands. The idea of saying goodbye to Damon suddenly made any conversation topic vanish from his head, and he hoped the blonde man was silent for the same reason. Seeing the gates, a thought made him open his mouth.

“You know what’s funny? The day I met you, my best friend was telling me what love is and I had trouble understanding because I’ve never known it, but now I’m thinking I might get what he meant.”

“Because you met me?” Roman didn’t need to turn to Damon to understand that he was surprised. Although maybe after his behavior tonight, he’d expected him to see right through Roman.

“Because with all the people I’ve met before, I’ve never wanted to see them all the time, to tell them about my private life, to get to know them. But with you it’s like the first thing on my mind all the time.”

“Roman…” The singer didn’t let him continue.

“Also like, Logan said that I should be patient and not go look for it, and like, you came to me, and I’ve never wanted to be less patient in my whole life.”

As soon as he said that, Roman regretted it. That was too forward, and Damon probably didn’t even-

“Then, you should know that I’ve been meaning to take things slow, but I might be reviewing my ideas.”

Roman finally turned towards Damon. They’d long since stopped walking, having reached the gates without even noticing it.

The look on Damon’s face might have been clear to anyone, but after tonight, Roman didn’t feel like he had a clear head. The shorter man was smiling, albeit shyly, and a tinge of pink colored his cheeks. Roman realized that he must look somewhat like that too, because he felt that this expression was the mirror of his feelings.

“Are you- are you saying…” Roman trailed off, sort of afraid of finishing this sentence the wrong way.

But Damon didn’t have to hear the end of it before he placed his hands on Roman’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

Now, throughout his life, Roman had had a lot of boyfriends and the sort, and had had even more kisses. First kisses, last kisses, heated kisses, quick pecks, you name it. But this, it felt new. Different. Roman was surprised by the force and the gentleness of it, so he gasped and parted his lips to welcome Damon’s tongue. He was quick to bring his own hands up to the other’s neck, but rather than putting them on his nape, he circled his neck with them, thumbs coming up to brush his cheeks. The stones Roman had felt before were back in his stomach, transformed into butterflies, and warmth spread through his body, just like it had a few moments ago.

They pulled away for air, panting, spit connecting their red lips, and looked in each other’s eyes.

“Your eyes are so beautiful,” Roman breathed out. Damon chuckled, probably not expecting that. “I um- my apartment is ten minutes from here by foot, if you want. Or we-”

“Yes,” Damon cut him off with a kiss, before completely pulling apart and taking Roman’s hand. “Lead the way.”

The older man didn’t need anything more to cross the road, dragging Damon with him. The walk could have taken less than ten minutes with the pace they’d set, if it weren’t for their numerous stops to make out on the way. Once they reached the apartment, Roman fumbled for his keys until a hand flattened at the small of his back, calming his nerves – spiking his interest, too – enough to let him know that there was no rush, admittedly.

They entered, locked the door and made their way to Roman’s bedroom, scattering clothes and shoes along the way. Finally, Roman was able to thread his fingers through Damon’s soft hair, leaving his bowler hat on the doorknob to his room. They fell on the bed with a thud, and Damon sat on Roman’s thighs. The taller man sat up, eye to eye with him, and brushed a finger along his scar.

“Are you sure about all of this?” He breathed out.

“About all of you? Yes. Haven’t ever been surer.” Damon smiled genuinely, a small laugh mingling their breaths together.

Roman decided, right then and there, that he was sure too, and that the night was young.

***


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning (and day) after for Roman and Damon, hence an important discussion + Virgil finds himself out of babysitters for Remy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: none, except maybe a little more innuendos than at the end of the previous chapter.

Roman woke up slowly to sunrays poking at his eyelids. He breathed in deeply as he stretched and turned onto his left side as he always did in the morning. That’s when he noticed the still sleeping form of Damon in front of him.

The man was lying on his side too, facing Roman, both hands under his head. His disheveled hair was falling in front of his eyes and the blanket was only covering him up to the middle of his stomach. Roman found himself wanting to brush the hair out of his face and run his hand down his jaw and along his arm, until he remembered that it was kind of rude to stare at someone while they were sleeping. Inhaling sharply, he turned onto his back again, the motion bouncing the mattress ever-so-slightly.

It seemed to wake Damon, as the man let out a sigh and shifted a little. He moved closer to Roman until his head was resting on his shoulder.

“Good morning,” he whispered.

Despite all his knowledge in theater and words, Roman couldn’t exactly name how he was feeling at the moment. After the initial shock of discovering another person still in bed with him had settled in, he felt like happiness and relief were taking over because of Damon’s first actions for the morning.

“Good morning to you. Had a good night?”

Damon snuggled more comfortably in the crook of his neck. “Yep. Slept like a baby.”

“Hm. Babies actually sleep only a few hours at once, don’t they? Where’s that saying come from?”

The blonde man chuckled, his breath tickling Roman’s chest. “Do you always ask yourself such existential questions in the morning? Should I be prepared for that?”

Roman started to laugh at the realization of how intense he was being, but it caught in his throat as something else hit him. Damon had sort of implied that he wanted to wake up next to him for the next days, hadn’t he? “Um… no?”

That must have come out as an exact replica of how he was feeling, because Damon pulled back and leaned his head against the palm of his hand. They got lost in each other’s eyes before he asked, “I say something wrong?”

Roman looked away. “No, just. I wasn’t really expecting to find you still sleeping here this morning and…”

Damon’s breath hitched before Roman trailed off. “Oh. Was it supposed to be just a hook up? I ruined everything, didn’t I? Did you not want last night? Was-”

“No, you didn’t ruin anything,” Roman cut him off, whipping his head back towards him. He lifted a hand to his cheek, thumb tracing just above his scar. “I wanted last night, more than I thought. I had a great time, the whole evening, and then, ending up here with you like that was just… I think I needed it. I mean- at this time of my life, but especially just at this stage of… whatever’s going on between us. It helped me understand how you feel about me, and I think I’m beginning to understand where I want this to go.”

Damon squinted his eyes and his lips fell into a smirk. “Oh? And where’s that?”

Roman laughed a little and removed his hand on Damon’s cheek to take the one that was on his chest and intertwine their fingers. “I want to know even more about you. I want us to take things at a steady pace, but… I think I want to wake up with you from time to time, and I want us to go on more dates.”

Damon’s eyes shone with many things that Roman couldn’t quite make out as he searched his own, before he lowered them to his lips. He leaned in, pressing his lips softly but firmly against Roman’s. “I want all of that too. I’ve never been so sure about someone.”

Roman was quick to disentangle his fingers from Damon and bring both hands to his face to pull him in for a kiss. Damon lifted his left hand to the back of his head, gently pulling on his hair, while he propped himself on his other hand, moving Roman with him. One of his legs came in-between Roman’s as he pressed himself close to him.

The taller man pulled away with a smack. “Okay, as much as I love where this is going, we both have this thing called morning breath, and I’m getting kinda hungry.”

Damon chuckled and lifted himself to his knees. “Yeah, gotta keep our priorities in check.”

“I mean…” Roman grinned, throwing a knowing glance at him. Damon punched him playfully on the arm and hopped over him to get up.

“I call dibs for the bathroom!” He said, before exiting the room.

“No fair! It was my idea!” Roman called after him, jumping out of bed. “It’s the last time I share one of these with you!”

*

After showering together, getting dressed (Roman lent Damon a black t-shirt with a drawing of Dr. Facilier on it, which suited him so well that Roman would have forced it on him if Damon had insisted anymore that wearing his shirt from last night was fine) and having a simple breakfast, Roman and Damon settled on a couch to talk and make out for the better part of the day.

Roman wasn’t really surprised that Damon had suddenly become more affectionate after their night together, hands softly roaming all over the singer’s body while he was situated on his lap or leaning against his side as they watched the kids’ channel absentmindedly (it was the only thing that Roman could bear in the morning). In his mind, this attitude corresponded with his general behavior; a man with such gentle manners, attentive and listening, was bound to be the touchy-feely type. Besides, his comportment when they woke up had been a giver, and Roman wasn’t bothered by it. He thought Damon was the kind of guy he needed after all his previous hook-ups.

“Hey, that’s you, isn’t it?” Damon’s voice brought him back to the present.

Roman focused on the cartoon playing in front of him. “What?”

“That beaver, he has your voice, doesn’t he?” Damon clarified.

The image on TV changed to show a beaver talking animatedly to a group of other animals. It was an educational cartoon in which adventures happened to a different character in each episode, and they would basically recount them to their friends, the morale being what they had learnt through it.

Roman smiled. “Oh, yeah, it’s me. I like that one, because he’s always up for the worst shenanigans and finds the most ingenious ways to get out of them.”

“This is so cool,” Damon said, leaning back to look at Roman. “You get to bring characters to life for kids. You get to be an inspiration for kids that might want to do what your character does or even what you do.”

Roman huffed a soft laugh. That aspect of his job wasn’t one he thought about every day, but he did like the sound of that. After almost eight years in the business, he could tell that it was hard to become a renowned voice actor, and if he could inspire children enough to go through all the steps to being one, he’d be glad. “Yeah, it is kind of cool. What’s cooler is when people realize that there are actual people whose job is to do this. Can you imagine the same show with no voices at all?”

“I can imagine it would be very much less funny.” Damon chuckled.

Roman was happy that the blond man was so enthusiastic about his job, because a lot of people he’d dated called him childish for accepting to do voices in kids’ shows. But in his opinion, it was the people who lost their inner child who were in the wrong.

“You know, I think your job can be inspiring too.”

Damon turned a little more towards him, hooking his legs across Roman’s lap and leaning against his arm that rested on the back of the couch. “How?”

“Well, I think a lot of people can be scared of sharks and killer whales, or even just water, and you work with that on a daily basis. You’re proof that there’s no reason to be afraid of those things.”

“Hmm, yeah, you’re right. Actually, a lot of kids often come to me, saying that they’re impressed because they saw me cleaning a tank, giving food to the sharks or taking care of an injured orca, and when I have time I like to show them that they are inoffensive if you behave correctly.”

Roman brought his hand to Damon’s thigh, stroking it softly. “That’s so nice. I’d love to see you at work.”

“That can be arranged. That said, I’d love to see you too. It’s already great that I can watch a movie or something and hear your voice. But after hearing you talk about the recording process last week, I thought it would be nice to actually see you doing it.”

Roman’s eyebrows rose up his forehead; it was the first time someone asked him that. Well, Patton had expressed the same desire and had come with him one or two times, but he was his best friend’s brother, so that didn’t count. “Oh, sure, I mean, you could probably come along sometime. I’d also like that, I think.”

The smile Damon gave him was so soft and fond that Roman could not do anything but lean in and kiss him. It rapidly turned into a make out session, as it had been the case several times in the morning. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by Roman’s belly gurgling loudly, and decided to order pizza.

They spent the afternoon lounging on Roman’s couch, flicking through different channels on TV, talking and snogging, sometimes quite heavily if Roman did say so himself. Around six in the evening, Damon said he had some chores waiting for him at home, even though he’d have gladly stayed longer. Roman walked him back to his car, parked a few streets from the park which looked different since every decoration had been taken down during the day.

After a few more long kisses, and settling for a dinner date the next Tuesday, Damon climbed into his car and Roman walked back home, whistling joyfully.

*

It had been exactly eleven days since Patton had met Remy’s dad, and quite a few things had changed since then. Patton had noticed and learnt a lot of things, and so had Remy’s father. One of those things, as the teacher had hoped, had been his first name.

Patton had pulled quite the trick, just the day after their meeting, in order to learn the other man’s name. At the second he’d appeared in the classroom, once again after every other child had left with their parents, he called “Hi mister Adams” with a big smile, to which Remy’s dad had blushed and prompted him to call him Virgil. The kindergarten teacher hadn’t exactly expected that reaction, though he’d sort of hoped for it, but he was glad to see how fast they’d gotten from Mister Mitchell and Mister Adams to Patton and Virgil. It just made talking together easier, and they’d done a lot of that for the past two weeks.

Among the things Patton had learnt, one was that the shop Virgil had mentioned working at was a bookstore, and that while it wasn’t his first choice for a job, it came in close second. Virgil had told him that his dream job was to own a music store, and though Patton had easily guessed that the other man must love music, he’d been happy to ask what kind he preferred, glad to see some of his apparent nervousness leave Virgil. When he had seen how excited Virgil had got talking about wanting to sell instruments, particularly guitars and basses, both instruments which he’d learned to play but had had to put on hold after Remy was born, Patton had been glad he’d asked.

Not wanting Virgil to be alone in the nervous sharing of his job, dreams and family, Patton had retaliated with info of his own. (Even if the emo man had hidden his anxiousness behind his passion, Patton had been able to see it through his eyes that wouldn’t quite meet his own.) He’d shared his dreams of having a big family with kids and dogs – but no cats, he was allergic – and how he felt that he was halfway there with the children in his different classes and the lovely dog waiting for him at home. Virgil had almost seemed in awe when he’d learnt that Patton had kept the same job – and only one – for five years, but Patton hadn’t wanted to pry since he felt that reaction meant it was a touchy subject.

There were a few things that Patton had noticed, too, like the fact that they’d grown naturally closer simply by talking a little bit almost every day. That made a warm feeling bloom inside Patton’s heart, because he had a habit of losing his words with guys he liked or thought were cute. And Virgil was gradually starting to belong to both categories.

Another thing he’d noticed was that Virgil always came around six to pick up Remy, and Patton felt that, unlike the first time, and more often than not, he was doing it to talk with him rather than because he was held up at the shop. That might not be what was happening, but well, one can always hope.

Today was a bit different. Virgil came in the classroom two minutes before six, when all the kids had gone and Remy was quietly reading. That much was a common occurrence. Patton automatically moved to the door to greet him, but slowed down when he understood that he was on the phone. That didn’t stop him from hearing what he was saying throughout the empty and silent room.

“… please, you’re my last hope! All the other babysitters I know aren’t available… No, I understand but… Don’t you have friends who could do it?... So, you don’t know anyone?”

Virgil’s sigh made Patton realize he’d been holding his breath since he’d understood what that was about.

“Yeah, I got it. Have a good time.” The tone in the other man’s voice had clearly become bitter by the time he hung up.

Patton finished making his way over. Virgil seemed startled to see him, as if he’d forgotten where he was, his anger and deception still easily readable on his face. He was quick to put on a smile when he realized the teacher was in front of him. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Patton took a hesitant step forward, not knowing how to say that he’d heard him without seeming nosy, but was cut off before he could say anything by a small dark-haired boy running past him.

“Daddy!” Remy shouted, jumping into his father’s arms, as per usual.

Virgil backed a little under the force of his child. “Hi baby boy. Did you have fun today?”

“Yes. Patton asked me to say what today was, and I know it’s Friday!”

“Hmm, and how do you know that, smart boy?” Virgil grinned.

Patton loved being able to watch those father-son interactions, because they were the times when Virgil looked the most at ease, all his day’s worry washed away. But today, he watched his smile slowly fade away with Remy’s response.

“Because after today you stay with me. For two days!”

Patton’s heart squeezed at the pained expression on Virgil’s face. “Oh, um… you see, Rems…”

“Virgil, if I may…” Patton spoke up. “I… overheard you on the phone earlier, and… well, maybe I can help.”

The emo man turned to him, his eyes wide, and Patton glanced at Remy, focused on the strings coming out of his dad’s hoodie, before offering a smile. “You want to baby- watch Remy?”

“I don’t know what your exact situation is, but I heard that you needed someone, and I want to help.”

Virgil stared at him for a few more seconds before looking at his son. “Um, okay… So… Remy, remember when Jessica was at home and played with you while daddy was at work, last week?” The boy nodded. “Would it be okay if Patton did that?”

Remy looked at his teacher with a wondering face. “Patton will come home and play with me?”

Virgil nodded, worry all over his facial features. “Yes, that’s it.”

“And he can read with me? And draw? And we can build a train?”

Patton chuckled, allowing Virgil to let out a relieved breath.

“We can do all that, yes,” Patton answered.

“It’s okay,” Remy said in reply to his dad’s original question. “I would like to do that with Patton, because he’s nice.”

Virgil laughed softly and put his son down. “Good. That’s for tomorrow, okay? Do you have all your stuff with you? Can you get ready to leave and wait for daddy?”

Remy nodded fervently and started to head towards the door, half running, half bouncing, when Patton called after him. “Remy, no running in the classroom!”

“Sorry mister Patton!” The boy said without turning around, slowing his pace before disappearing through the door into the hallway.

Patton turned towards Virgil, not surprised to see his nerves showing.

“Are you sure you want to do this? You’re his teacher, you already see him every day, and I’m sure I can find-”

“Virgil, it’s okay. “Patton assured him. “You sounded like you had no other option but to leave him alone. I already told you that I love children, and Remy really is a great kid.”

“Yeah, he is…” Virgil sighed, a smile tugging at his lips. “I just wanted to make sure. My coworker called in sick today, and the manager asked me to take over his shift tomorrow. As it’s last minute, none of his usual babysitters are free, and I can’t really bring him to my parents, because he’s going there next weekend. I don’t want to bother them- not that I- I mean, I don’t want to bother you either…”

The teacher chuckled and stepped closer, glad that the other man had explained the situation without him even asking. “I promise you, it’s not a bother. I’m glad to help. I’d do it anytime.”

Virgil’s chest moved when he let out a hard sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you Pat! On… Patton. Sorry.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to call me that, don’t worry.” Patton reassured him, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach.

“Yeah but it’s a rather intimate nickname. I- I mean, I think only people you’re really close to should- would call you that.”

“I don’t mind.”

Their eyes locked, until Patton realized that this seemed like he was coming strong onto him and looked away.

“Right, so, I’ll just come by your house tomorrow. What time do you want me to be there?”

“Um, at eight thirty in the morning would be great, but it-”

“Eight thirty. Perfect, I’ll be there.” When Patton looked at him again, he noticed Virgil was still looking at him with some uncertainty. “I have your address from Remy’s info, and no, it’s not too early.”

Virgil finally seemed to relax, letting out a small laugh, when Remy called from the hallway. “Well, I have to go. Thank you again, so much, and I’ll… we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re welcome. Good night.”

*

When Patton stood in front of the Adams’ door, he found himself quite nervous. He knew he didn’t have any reason to be, but he thought that, deep inside, something was telling him it might not be the last time he came here. That hope was making him anxious and he was a little scared that the reassurance of being able to talk normally to Virgil would burst into flames the moment he knocked on the door.

With one deep breath, and the thought that he’d already made it inside the complex, he raised his hand and brought three light knocks to the door. He unconsciously held his breath and heard some rustling on the other side. Then, the wood disappeared, and Virgil was standing in front of him.

“Hi!” He said, moving aside to let Patton in.

But the taller man didn’t budge. Instead, he took in Virgil’s look, which was not at all different from any day he saw him during the week. But his jeans had more holes in them, and his jacket was different, patched with big, purple threads and band logos, and the Black Parade t-shirt he wore, Patton had never seen before. So, all in all, he felt like he was staring at a different man, and forgot he was holding his breath.

“Hi,” he finally let out, all his air flowing out with that one word.

Virgil grinned and arched an eyebrow. “Nervous?”

Maybe it was the change of place, maybe it was because it was his home, but the emo man seemed so much more at ease than he did when he came to pick up Remy at Patton’s school.

“No, nope, not at all.” Patton wanted to slap himself in the face. “I… like your clothes, they look good on you.”

Virgil blushed and looked down at himself. “Oh… thanks… Well, come in.”

Patton flashed him a smile and entered, letting the other man close the door behind him. He took a quick look around, immediately noticing in the arrangement of furniture and the different doors that this was a small apartment. It was not that surprising, since he’d already understood that it was only Virgil and Remy. Patton distantly remembered something about the kid saying how his dad liked to hang up his drawings around the house, as he found himself looking at dozens of them; they were on the walls, the fridge, the cupboards, in the kitchen, the living room, the hallway.

“You have a nice home,” he said as Virgil walked in front of him.

“Thank you. Um… before I take you to Remy, I just wanted to make sure about lunch,” he said, walking to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure if you liked to cook, so I bought a few frozen pizzas. But there’s also plenty of food in the fridge, you can do as you want.”

Patton smiled at him. “You did well, because kitchenware and I don’t agree. I usually order in, so pizza sounds great.”

Virgil smiled back, and Patton could see that he was trying to hold a laugh.

“You can mock me if you want. I mean, what twenty-nine-year-old man doesn’t know how to cook?”

The other man laughed a little but shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m sure you have plenty of other talents.” Patton didn’t really know how to react to this, so he didn’t. “Right, so, I actually have to leave soon, and I’m sure Rems wants to see you. He’s been talking about all the games he wants to play, and I think one day won’t be enough.”

Patton followed Virgil to a door that must lead to Remy’s room. “I guess I’ll have to come back if it’s the case.”

The shorter man didn’t comment or turn around, but Patton could see the blush on his neck and how his shoulders stiffened, and he wished he could take it back. He did want to come back, but it didn’t mean it was the case for Virgil. After all, he was only here to look after Remy.

Virgil opened the door and they walked in. “Hey Rems.”

The kid, who was sat on the floor, taking cars out of a plastic box, looked up and jumped to his feet. “Hello!” He said, hurrying towards the men. He hugged Patton’s legs, and the teacher put a hand on his head, ruffling his hair.

“Hi Remy. How are you doing today?”

“I’m good. I’m happy because you’re here and we’re going to play, even if daddy is going to work.” Remy let go of his legs and grabbed Virgil’s hand.

“Well, I’m happy to be here.” He looked up at the other man, wanting to convey his words to him as much as he did to his kid.

“Thank you again,” Virgil said, and dug in his jeans’ pocket, retrieving a small post-it note. “Um, here is my number, in case you need it. I didn’t know if you already had it or not. You can call me if anything happens or if you have a question, but I’m sure Remy will guide you through the day.”

He looked down at his child, who frowned and pushed his thigh. “Yes, but now you have to go. You have work and I have to play with Patton.”

Patton and Virgil shared a look, and both let out a small chuckle.

“Okay, I’m going. Can I have a goodbye kiss?” Virgil crouched down.

Remy threw his hands around his dad’s neck and kissed him on the cheek, before going back to his job of getting his cars out. The emo man stood back up and smoothed his shirt.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Remy usually naps in the afternoon, and I know that he doesn’t want to do it when there’s a babysitter, so don’t let him talk you into any exciting activity right after lunch.”

Patton smiled. “Okay, noted. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”

“Right. Thank you again. I’ll see you tonight. Bye Remy!”

“Bye daddy!”

“See you, Virgil.”

Once he was out, Patton sat down next to Remy. “So, what are we playing first?”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry for the delay in posting, I've suffered quite the writer's block this summer. Hopefully I'll get back on track now that I'm back at work. Hope I'll see you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: The end of the day of Patton watching Remy, followed by thoughts of Virgil about all of this. I know some of you probably want to see more of Remus and Logan, but hang in there, they’re coming next!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: None I can think of, this is pretty soft fluff.

Remy Adams was, as many four-year-old children were, a very energetic kid. Patton quickly noticed that, even though he was calm and quiet in class and with his classmates, at home it was like his barriers fell down. That Saturday morning passed by quickly, as both were engrossed in several games.

Patton had expected two possible behaviors from Remy, from what he knew about children his age. He would either start an activity and be bored by it after mere minutes, or he would stay focused on it for hours. As it turned out, Remy could spend an hour or so playing with cars before asking to move on to the building of an entire Lego house.

When that was done, it was close to noon and the boy mentioned feeling hungry. Patton managed to convince him to pack away the cars and Lego pieces they had used (he hadn’t been able to make him clean up the first activity before Remy had taken out his Lego box) while he would start on reheating the pizzas.

Patton was proud of himself for finding out how to work the oven in a stranger’s house (most of the time, he avoided using his own, as he was not sure what the different functions were for), and even prouder when they started eating and he found that the pizzas were cooked just right. Remy thanked him for the food and cleared his plate, immediately asking to build a train circuit. Remembering Virgil’s words about a nap and an exciting activity, Patton talked the boy into brushing his teeth before meeting him in his bedroom and suggesting they read a book first.

Remy, quite oblivious to his teacher’s maneuvering, eagerly climbed into bed and leaned against him as Patton started reading. It wasn’t long before his head nodded forward, a telling sign of his slumber. The bespectacled man lay him down and exited the room, taking a seat at the dining table, from where he could keep an eye on him as he planned his week’s work.

About an hour later, Remy showed up in the dining room, his hair ruffled and his fingers rubbing his tired eyes.

“Hi, Remy,” Patton welcomed him with a smile, clearing the table and standing up. “Did you sleep well?”

The boy nodded. “Mh-hm. I want to play now.”

“Sure. Do you still want to build that train circuit?”

The reminder seemed to wake him up completely and Remy grabbed Patton’s hand, pulling him towards his bedroom. “Yes! Grandpa gave me a new bridge piece, and daddy gave me new wagons, I want to show you!”

The boy’s excitement would never cease to amuse Patton, the teacher thought as he followed him and sat down in the center of the room. They spent a good amount of time building the rails before playing a little with different kinds of trains. Patton couldn’t help the part of him that wanted to educate the kid, and he continuously asked what kinds of trains they were, and what the different parts were called, and was pleasantly surprised when Remy answered all his questions with detailed precision.

They were in the middle of drawing when the main door opened and Virgil came in.

“Daddy!” Remy shouted, climbing off his chair and running up towards the man.

“Hi Rems,” Virgil said with a groan as he lifted the child in his arms. “I missed you so much. How was your day?”

“It was great! We played lotsa games, and we had pizza for lunch, and I made drawings of what we did!”

“Good, I can’t wait to see them.” Virgil brushed Remy’s hair from his face. “And was Patton nice? Was it like the other babysitters?”

The boy squirmed under the attention. “Patton is really nice. But I already know that. He played all the games I wanted, and we even read two books! Can I go? I need to finish my drawing.”

Virgil laughed softly and put Remy down. “Yeah, ok.” He looked at his kid until he was sat back at the table, and finally lifted his gaze to Patton, who had stood up and come near them without intruding. He nodded towards the couch and went to sit on it without a word. Patton followed. “Thank you again. His usual babysitters are good, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy and excited. Normally he can’t stop asking when I’m coming back, and they grow tired of it.”

“Oh, well, maybe it’s because he actually took a nap. Gave him back his energy.”

Virgil widened his eyes at him. “You managed to make him sleep?”

Patton nodded with a smile. “For a whole hour. I think he was just so happy that I was saying yes to the previous activities, that when I suggested reading a book, he couldn’t see the trick.”

The emo man glanced at his son and back at Patton. “That’s what I was saying. There’s such a connection between you two, I’ve never seen him behave like that with anyone outside my family.”

Patton couldn’t have stopped his blushing if he’d tried. Virgil probably didn’t mean anything by that, but he couldn’t help seeing the implication of that sentence.

“Do you want to stay for dinner, as a repayment? I can make something quickly.”

Patton tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach at Virgil’s words and the look on his face when he answered. “I would love to, but I don’t want to intrude, and I probably should get some work done for the weekend.”

Virgil’s face seemed to decompose for a second before he stood up and walked towards the door. “Right. Yes, I already took all of your time for the day, I’m so sorry.” He continued to mumble to himself as Patton gathered his things. “I said I didn’t want to be dependent on my parents and where does that leave me? I’m so ashamed of myself right-” He cut himself off when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Virgil, why are you beating yourself up?” Patton asked, a worried look in his eyes in spite of himself. “I already told you that I would do this anytime. I really don’t feel like you or Remy have taken my time today, and neither should you. I just think you should get to enjoy the time that was taken from you with your son.” He felt the shorter man gradually relax in his grip and let go, adding with a playful tone, “And you could always invite me for coffee next week if it helps you feel better.”

When Virgil looked up at him, Patton couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes. “I… Yeah, you’re right. I’ll consider it.”

“Are you leaving, mister Patton?” Remy’s voice made them both look at him.

Patton chuckled lightly. No matter how much he reminded his students to simply call him by his name – no ‘mister Patton’ or ‘mister Mitchell’ – they kept slipping up. “Yes, since your dad is back, my job here is done.”

Remy jumped from his seat and quickly made his way to them, a paper sheet clutched in his hand. “This is for you.”

Patton accepted the drawing and looked at it, feeling Virgil glancing at it over his shoulder. Now, the teacher was used to getting gifts from the children in his classes, but none of them held the emotion of this one. Remy had drawn himself between his dad and Patton, surrounded by books and trains and cars. They all had big smiles on their faces, but the detail that made Patton’s heart skip a beat was that the three figures were holding hands. They looked like a family.

It took a few seconds to push back the lump in his throat. “Thank you, Remy. This is beautiful, and very good. You know, I think I’ll hang this one up right in my living room.” He bent down to give the child a hug, which he returned wholeheartedly.

“You’re welcome. Now I’m gonna draw more! Goodbye!”

“Bye Remy, I’ll see you on Monday.”

He turned to Virgil in time to see him take his hand from his mouth to the door handle. “Thank you again for everything, and… I’ll also see you on Monday.”

“Yes. You’re welcome, I had a really good day. And I mean it when I say I’d do it anytime, don’t hesitate to come to me if you need someone to watch over him.”

Virgil nodded and opened the door, and with a last goodbye, Patton was out of the apartment.

He made his way to his car and, once he was sitting in it, he looked at the drawing again. He didn’t want to read into Virgil and Remy’s behaviors, but he had a strong feeling that they could, one day, become a family.

*

It was only once they had eaten, and Remy was asleep in his bed and Virgil staring at the ceiling in his own, that he allowed himself to think back on what had happened that day. Or what had been happening for the past two weeks, to be more exact.

He hadn’t really had much to think about until then, in his opinion, but he was forced to admit that some of the things Patton had said since the day before were starting to bother him; not bother him in a bad way, necessarily, but he felt like his mind and his heart were struggling to agree on some stuff.

Virgil hadn’t wanted to jump into things and call the teacher a friend too soon, but since he had suggested coming over to watch over Remy himself, he’d known they were at a stage that friendship was a good word to describe. Except… Well, he wasn’t naïve enough to misunderstand what Patton had kept implying.

_“I think only people you’re really close to should- would call you that.”_

_I don’t mind._

_I… like your clothes, they look good on you._

_I guess I’ll have to come back if it’s the case._

_I’m happy to be here._

_And you could always invite me for coffee next week if it helps you feel better._

Virgil let out the breath he’d been holding in a long sigh. Patton’s intentions were pretty clear, even if he always let Virgil have the last word. And then again… Virgil had said some stuff that could make him sound like he was flirting, hadn’t he?

_I’m sure you have plenty of other talents._

_Do you want to stay for dinner, as a repayment?_

_There’s such a connection between you two, I’ve never seen him behave like that with anyone outside my family._

He didn’t think he was hiding any sentiment behind his words; they’d come naturally after what Patton had said. But even he had to admit, that bit about his family was too much. What was he trying to achieve, blurting out stuff like that? And then, thinking about his child’s behavior, Virgil actually groaned and turned onto his front, burying his face in his pillow.

He didn’t know if he had to blame or thank his son for confirming what he’d been saying. But seeing how he behaved around Patton, how affectionate he was with him, how he spoke about him, if he was honest with himself, it was true that he’d never seen him act like that with anyone but him. Even his parents sometimes had trouble getting through to him. And that drawing, Lord almighty.

Drawing was the way Remy had found to express his emotions, since before he was able to talk. Now, he could speak, of course, but he still found it easier to do it through art. That was how Virgil knew that drawings were like a window to his son’s mind. There was no mistaking what Remy thought about Patton, and about Virgil.

He saw the three of them as a family.

Virgil wasn’t sure where he’d gotten that idea, because he’d never had a family of two parents. Of course, he could have witnessed it through kids’ TV shows and books, or seeing his friends at school. But that wouldn’t explain why he thought it was ok to have two dads; Virgil didn’t think he’d seen homosexual couples among the parents at school. Maybe it was simply what he saw in Patton, somehow. It wasn’t the first time Virgil thought that Remy didn’t quite make the difference between a teacher and a parental figure yet, or even just an adult taking care of him. Though he maintained, he had never seen him act with that kind of affection around anyone else.

The thing was, Virgil wasn’t sure what to think about all that. He’d heard from a lot of his high school and college friends that it was common to go through a questioning phase about sexuality. But he’d thought that was a thing you did at sixteen, or eighteen, but not at twenty-eight. And at that age, he’d been in love with Remy’s mom, and he had been until she wasn’t there anymore. After that, he’d been so busy raising Remy that there wasn’t time to even look at other people. But now that he’d met Patton, he was starting to think that he was seriously going through that phase.

Virgil thought about Patton’s invitation again. Well, he hadn’t explicitly invited him for coffee, what with turning the sentence the other way around, but it was kind of how it felt. And that made the emo man even more aware of the fact that inviting Patton for coffee, either out or at his house, would probably be seen as a date. Virgil rolled back onto his back and blinked at the ceiling.

Why didn’t that particular thought make him feel awkward or disturbed? Admitting that he knew that Patton was flirting with him and showing that he cared about him and Remy, and admitting that maybe he had flirted back, wouldn’t he still need to think about that? That is, if he really was going through the phase of wondering if he liked men. But somehow, deep inside his heart, he felt that he already knew the answer to that question. Well, not if he liked guys, but it definitely felt like his feelings about the teacher were not exactly just friendly.

He rolled onto his side, letting out a dreamy sigh. He had to admit that, after four years, seeing someone grow fond of Remy that way was refreshing and reassuring. Of course, all the babysitters he had hired to this day were very affectionate with his son, but that was simply the effect he had on every young girl that met him, because Remy was an absolute angel. Patton, however, showed that he could see Remy for his intelligence and his creativity. Virgil felt a surge of relief when he thought about the teacher’s behavior every time he came to the school to pick his son up, when he let them have their own moment without commenting on it or intruding.

And even though he still felt guilty about asking the man to take the day to watch his son while he worked, he was immensely grateful that he had insisted on doing it, showing just how much he cared about the two’s wellbeing.

Virgil hummed lowly. Maybe he could take Patton up on his offer for a night out, just for the sake of thanking him and getting to know him.

*

By the time Virgil got to the school the next Monday at six, he’d had the time to go through every emotion he thought was possible. When he’d finally managed to drift off to sleep, the last Saturday, he’d been feeling relaxed and happy. But he’d had a weird dream during the night, and woke up anxious. The whole Sunday, he was a little mad at himself for retreating back into his thoughts, not quite listening to his son’s ramblings except for when he mentioned Patton, which, he noticed, was more and more often.

He’d tried to be more focused while he was at work but felt that he wasn’t as efficient as he normally was, if his boss’ glares and raised eyebrows were anything to go by. All in all, he was resolved to invite the teacher out, if only to come clean with his own feelings.

A loud shrill voice interrupted his brooding and he looked in front of him just in time to intercept a running child. “Hi daddy!”

As always, Virgil lifted Remy up on his hip, and he threw a furtive glance to the corner where Patton was standing, a respectable distance from the two. “Hey Rems. You’re in a good mood.”

“Yes. We learned new colors and that means we could draw a lot! I wanna show you!” Remy started thrashing in Virgil’s arms, so he put him down and watched him disappear behind one shelf displaying the alphabet and numbers from one to nine.

Patton gave his own chuckle as the kid not quite ran out of view. “He’s been that excited all day. Promise me you’ll never introduce him to coffee when he’s older.”

“I don’t know, I’ve heard that it actually calms people with hyperactivity.” Virgil joked back, taking a few steps closer to the teacher.

The other man made a pretend-shocked face before smoothing his features into a warm smile. “How are you? How was the rest of your weekend?”

“I’m good, and it was good. Remy talked a lot about you and all the things you did on Saturday. Thanks again for that, by the way.”

Patton smiled playfully. “How many times more are you going to thank me? I said it was nothing.”

Virgil threw his hands in front of him animatedly. “I know, I know. Sorry. Um… Speaking of that, I…” He trailed off, not knowing how to phrase what he wanted to say. He didn’t even know what sort of feeling he wanted to put in his invitation. But Patton simply inclined his head on the side, the way a dog would, waiting for him to speak. “I’ve decided to take you upon your offer, and actually invite you, as a formal thank you.”

The taller man’s face lit up at that. “Oh, that’s great! I was half-joking, but I’d love to see you outside of here. Beside last Saturday, that is.”

Virgil was amused to hear a hint of nervousness in Patton’s voice, and relieved to know he wasn’t the only one to feel anxious. “I’m glad. I was thinking about grabbing dinner this Friday. Remy is staying with his grandparents for the weekend, so it’s going to be my first night alone since I’ve started working again.”

A flash of surprise passed over Patton’s face before he smiled again, throwing his hands into his pants’ pockets. “Oh, dinner. Next Friday. Ok. I can do that. I mean, I’m already looking forward to it.”

Before Virgil could realize that he was probably surprised by the kind of ‘date’ he was suggesting, which was a mile away from a simple coffee, Remy returned with a stack of paper sheets in his arms.

“Daddy, look!” He plopped down on the floor, spreading his drawings in front of him. Virgil crouched beside him. “Wait. Where’s… There! We did a rainbow! Did you know that this color is called indigo?”

Virgil chuckled softly, ruffling his hair. “Yes, I did. You did a good job, Rems.”

His son pushed his hand away, straightening his hair. “Thanks. But I already knew all those colors. That’s purple, and it’s your favorite.”

“Hm, and how do you know that?” Virgil changed his position to a more comfortable one, knowing that it could take a while, and sat cross-legged.

“Because you always have purple clothes. And look, that’s when we had to say what colors things are, and then draw them. Like this, it’s an apple, so I made it red. But Sara said that apples are also green, and she did a green one.”

Virgil smiled at the name of the girl that his son seemed to view as a friend, happy that he wasn’t alone during school. Remy looked up at him with a questioning look, as if to ask if she had been right and he had been wrong.

Patton intervened. “And do you remember what I said then?”

Remy turned to look at his teacher, who had also crouched next to them, on the opposite side from Virgil. “Yes, you said that some things have different colors even if they have the same name.” He looked at his dad again, as if asking for confirmation.

“That’s right, Rems. I can buy some green and red apples, if you want to be sure.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “Ok, and can we also have oranges? Melvin had one for lunch and it’s so good!”

“Ok. I like that you like fruit,” he added in a hushed voice, which made Patton chuckle.

“Can we go now? I wanna show you everything, and maybe we can hang some of these in the house. And I wanna taste green apples to see if they’re good too.” Remy said energetically, starting to gather his papers back together.

“Of course, baby boy. You can pack up all your stuff and get ready, and I’ll meet you outside, ok?”

The boy nodded and grabbed his drawings, quickly getting up to his feet and rushing out of the classroom. Virgil turned to Patton, who had followed Remy with his eyes, a smile on his face, as he often did.

“So… about next Friday,” Virgil said hesitantly. “Should I pick you up? Does seven sound good?”

Patton turned to him, warm smile in place on his lips. “Yes, it sounds perfect. I’m really looking forward to it.”

He stood up, stretching his legs to dissipate the ache in his knees, and Virgil followed suit. “Good, me too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, bye Virgil.”

As the man walked out and met his son, he realized how warm he felt inside. Amongst all the thoughts he’d had over the weekend, there had been a lot of anxiousness at the fact that Patton could always refuse to meet him for dinner. Of course, it would be surprising, considering that he had been the one to get closer to Virgil first, and to suggest they go out for coffee. Still, Virgil couldn’t help but fear that he was actually reading into things that weren’t there, even if that would also be stupid; it wasn’t like he was expecting anything from Patton.

Remy shook him out of his thoughts by grabbing his hand when he decided that his dad wasn’t walking fast enough for his liking. They made their way to a grocery store where they picked up colorful fruit, Remy talking about his day all the while. This time, Virgil wasn’t zoning out so much, but he was aware that he was more attentive whenever his son mentioned his teacher.

In the end, one thing was for sure. Whatever happened with Patton from now on, Virgil was sure he had gained a great friend, and Remy had gained someone who wanted to take care of him and whom he was attached to. And that was all that mattered to him.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know I said I'd try to write more after I got out of my writer's block, but in truth, I just couldn't find it in myself to write the next chapter. Anyway, here I am again, and I hope you liked this chapter. I'm excited about the next chapter I have to write, but it is once again going to contain a lot of discussions, and I'm quite bad at starting to write those (once I'm going you can't stop me though) so I don't know when I'll be able to post again.  
> I want to thank all of you who have left kudos and comments, it means a lot to me!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Roman and Damon have their dinner date + Logan has a small accident
> 
> CW: Car accident (not too graphic)

As much as Roman was used to going on dates, he wasn’t used to dating. Now, neither Damon nor he had put that label on what was going on between them, but he was fairly sure that was what it was. And because his last ‘real’ boyfriend (one that lasted for more than three months, which had been the standard with lots of guys) had left more than two years ago, Roman didn’t know what to expect when he met Damon at the restaurant.

His first instincts would be to pull him against him and kiss him hello, especially when they hadn’t seen each other since last Friday and all their talking on the phone over the weekend had got him excited to spend the evening with Damon. But he didn’t want to do anything that would make him uncomfortable, and Logan’s words to be patient remained at the front of his mind and he really wanted to try and apply them to this relationship, even though (and probably because) he hadn’t really done that before telling Damon that he wanted to spend more time with him than just one night.

All in all, Roman’s last thought when he reached Damon in front of the restaurant was that he wished he’d asked to pick him up, because he’d have known how to greet him in the privacy of his car. Even the way the blond man beamed at him didn’t manage to reassure him entirely.

“Hi Roman.”

“Hey.”

Damon must have sensed the tension emanating from him, because he reached to take his hand but stopped inches from it. “Okay?”

The raised brow indicated that the question was meant for both Roman and the gesture. The singer nodded and willed his lips to smile more. Damon took his hand and squeezed it gently, and Roman instinctively moved closer. Together they entered the building and Damon announced his name to the waitress who welcomed them, asking them to follow her.

Before they could do so, Roman snapped back to reality thanks to the feeling of Damon’s fingers still intertwined with his and stole a quick kiss from him. The shorter man looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Sorry, I had to. You’re very sexy when you’re serious,” he whispered, leaning closer.

Damon’s eyes shone with malice. “Fine by me. Shall we?”

Roman followed his pull and they caught up with the waitress, who had stopped at a table in the back of the room. They sat down and thanked her, opening the menus and scanning their choices.

“Wanna tell me what that was about?” Damon asked, glancing at him over his menu.

Roman lowered his own a bit. “I’m not even sure myself to be honest. I wasn’t sure what you’d… feel at ease with. Or what you wouldn’t want me to do.”

A hum from Damon made him realize that he’d looked down, and he met his eyes. “I guess that’s part of why we’re having this date, isn’t it? To set the bases for our relationship. To see what we like and don’t, what we want and don’t. Right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, it’s just… been a long time.”

“Well, we’re in this together, are we not?”

They both smiled and finished choosing their plates.

“Do you know what you’d like?” Damon asked.

“I’m stuck between the steak and the fish. What would you suggest, what about you?”

Damon smiled like he knew something Roman didn’t. “I’m sure either is great, but I’m a vegetarian, so I’m afraid I’m of no help.”

Roman’s eyebrows shot up behind his fringe. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. How long have you been?”

“Since the accident with my dad. For a long time, I couldn’t eat solid food, and then the taste of meat just repulsed me. It also coincided with the time I became aware of what makes up the piece of meat or fish you see in front of you, and decided I was against that.”

Roman nodded sagely. “I get it. Do you want me to not eat either with you?”

Damon shook his head. “No, it’s ok. I know that people are allowed to have different opinions, and though I wish everyone could see the light, I’m aware that it’s not realistic.”

Roman stared at him for a total of two seconds after he finished, before he burst out laughing. Damon said nothing nor did he join him, but he did have the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“I’m sorry, I know that you’re being serious, but it’s a weirdly profound way of saying I can eat meat. I will, however, try to eat less animals in your presence.”

Damon shook his head fondly just as the waitress came. They placed their order, both opting for the vegetarian special, and she promised to be back soon with their drinks.

“I should have guessed when you asked for the veggie pizza last week,” Roman said as soon as she’d left.

Damon shrugged. “I wouldn’t have expected you to. Speaking of, should we talk about our expectations toward our relationship?”

“Yes, let’s.”

Roman hadn’t been worried about lacking topics to discuss that evening – he still wasn’t – but right now, he didn’t know how to begin. He agreed with Damon that it would be good to set a few things straight – _ha_ – from the start, to ensure a good relationship. But now that they’d said they would talk about it, he suddenly wasn’t sure what should be said; were there some things that would be offensive and shouldn’t be mentioned? Well, maybe he should ask about that; were they meant to set limits or would that be exaggerating since they had only been together for four days?

Damon brought him out of his thoughts when he cleared his throat and Roman focused back on him. The blond man was watching him with a smirk on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes, leaning back in his chair, before he sat up and spoke.

“First and foremost, we must be able to ask and talk about anything, and answer without judging or cowering.” Even though the words seemed harsh, the light tone of his voice helped achieve the aim of that sentence, which was to appease Roman and remind him that they were in the same boat.

“Alright, yes.”

“And that means no fear of being judged for something we feel the need to bring up. I promise to respect that.”

“Okay, I do too.”

Roman let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and both men visibly relaxed.

“First of all, because I feel stupid for it, I want us to greet each other with kisses, wherever we are, is that ok?”

Damon smiled and nodded, and with that alone Roman had an answer. “Of course it’s ok, I want the same. And what did I just say? Don’t feel stupid, it’s not; every person is different, therefore, every relationship happens differently, and no matter how many you’ve been in, you can’t take anything for granted.”

“Too true,” Roman said, thinking about the many differences between his previous relationships. “I was also wondering if there were things I shouldn’t mention or do. A part of me can’t help but feel bad about what happened on Halloween, or how I just asked you what you preferred between meat and fish.”

The blond man seemed to grow more serious. “I’ve already told you not to beat yourself up for it. You can’t know every little detail about me when we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, and I don’t expect you to. To be honest, I don’t even know how I could react in certain situations. I think I’m alright, mostly, but as you’ve seen, there might be times where something triggers a particular reaction. I think the best course of action would be to take it as we go and face whatever might come our way together.”

Roman felt very satisfied with the answer and nodded his approval. The waitress reappeared with their drinks, and they continued to talk about their expectations and preferences about their relationship until she brought their meals.

“So, tell me more about your family,” Damon said once they’d tucked in. “From what you’ve already told me, I only know that you have a twin brother who’s a forensic scientist and dating your best friend. Are you very different?”

“Want to see a picture?” Roman asked and waited for Damon’s nod before taking out his phone. He looked for pictures of Remus, which were quite rare. “Here, this was last Christmas. The goofballs with glasses are Logan and his brother Patton.”

Damon accepted the phone and seemed to figure out who was who easily. Not that it was hard, because Roman and Remus did look alike, except for Remus’ moustache and white streak in his fringe, and Logan had his arm around Remus’ waist, which left Patton to be the one holding a small dog against his chest.

“You already look like a nice family,” he said as he handed the phone back to Roman, who rolled his eyes.

“I know, and this was only three months after Remus and Logan started dating. Wait, I’ll find one from when we were younger.”

Damon ate a forkful while Roman scrolled through his gallery, before landing on the desired picture. “We were eight in this one, I think. Tell me if you can differentiate us.”

Once again, the blonde took the phone and observed the photo. The boys were standing next to each other, dressed exactly the same, with onesies of Remy, from Ratatouille. Their hair was the same and they looked identical to the grins on their faces. Damon zoomed in and examined what details he could find while Roman caught up with his food.

“Ah, you’re the one on the left of the photo, right?”

Roman widened surprised eyes at him. “How the heck? How did you even figure that out?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy,” Damon laughed. “But there’s something in your eyes, I don’t know. Oh, and Remus has a mole at the edge of his eyebrow.”

They both laughed for a while at the casual tone in his voice, then took a few bites from their plates without a word.

“Did you two get confused a lot? Like in school?” Damon asked.

“Well, yeah, teachers always had to refer to the class plan when we were in primary school. After that, we started showing different interests and abilities, and formed two very separate groups of friends, so it was a little easier. I think I have a picture of a prank we pulled once for Halloween.”

Roman looked for a while and showed his phone to Damon a third time. “We decided that it would be funny if I dyed my hair green and Remus did his red, because at the time we would wear these two colors a lot, but the other way around. And it worked so well that all day long, the teachers called us by the other’s name.”

They laughed together for a while, and then went back to eating in silence for a few minutes. Roman wanted to ask Damon questions about his family too, but from what he already knew, he wasn’t sure if it would be welcome.

He thought asking about his childhood would only bring bad stories, and he had no idea how Damon and his mother had continued getting along after his father was sent in prison. He was grateful for the excuse that eating gave him, but he hated being the only one to talk about himself. It hadn’t bothered him before, he liked talking about himself, but ever since he’d met the other man, he had been insecure about talking too much about his life and not asking enough about Damon’s.

“You can ask, you know.”

Roman startled around his food and gulped, lifting a questioning glance at the man sitting in front of him.

“I expect you want to ask about my family, and you have the right to,” Damon elaborated.

Roman took a sip from his drink. “I- yeah, but I don’t know what-”

“I won’t be hurt by anything you’ll ask, I promise. Don’t you remember that the first thing I told you about me was my sad sub story?”

The brunette chuckled. “Don’t call it that.” He sighed, more to spur himself on than anything. “Ok, would you tell me your favorite memory from your childhood or teenage years?”

Damon smiled. “Yes, of course. It was the first time I went to the movie theater. I was ten, and the movie was Finding Nemo. My mom had never been able to take me before, because I was too young and then my father went sideways, so I was really excited about going. And then, when I saw that story happening in a huge ocean, and all the different kinds of fish and the funny turtles and the nice sharks, I decided I wanted to work in that kind of place when I was older. As you can see, the idea has never left me.”

“That’s so cute, and sad at the same time,” Roman said softly. “But that means you’re doing your dream job.”

“Yeah, it does. Aren’t you?”

“Doing my dream job? Oh yeah, for sure. Well, my dream job when I was little was to be a prince, but you know how that goes. I’ve actually voiced a prince once, and it was one of my favorite cartoons to be in.”

They smiled at each other and carried on their conversation about their childhoods while eating. Roman was glad that, as Damon had promised, no question made him uneasy, even if it invoked a bad memory. He was very happy to simply get to know the man more.

Once they had their fill, they left the restaurant and Damon invited him to his apartment. They had begun talking about the Olympic Games in the car, debating on whether the ones that took place in summer were more interesting than the ones in winter, and continued with what their favorite sport to watch was once they reached Damon’s place.

“Honestly, as much as I love swimming and dancing, I can’t understand how someone would mix them to create synchronized swimming. It’s so boring to watch, and I can’t even imagine parti- what are you doing?” Roman cut himself off when he realized that he was lying on his back on Damon’s bed, and the man was sitting on his thighs, slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

“Oh, do continue, I love hearing you talk about boring things,” Damon grinned, never stopping his motions.

“Are you sure? Because you look like you have an interesting and not boring at all idea.” Roman let his head fall on the pillows.

“Mhm.” Damon nodded, sliding his hands on the newly exposed chest up to Roman’s shoulders and leaning in until the taller man could feel his breath against his face. “My idea is to shut you up until you’re unable to even form thoughts.”

Roman’s eyes widened at the whispered words and he pulled the man to him, crashing his lips against the thinner ones before biting them softly.

“Anything you want.”

*

There were times when Logan was absolutely glad to find the heat and comfort of his car after a twelve-hour night shift at the hospital. Today was one of those times.

The young doctor was always excited when the emergencies at night were fresh arrivals at the hospital and not one elderly woman having a coughing fit or a man remembering in the middle of the night that he still couldn’t feel his foot after a particularly bad accident at work. Well, that night, there had been a fire in a residential building and other related issues, and quite a number of people had been brought in with various degrees of injuries.

Logan loved taking charge in moments like that, either directing other doctors and nurses on what to do or intervening directly when it came to one of his specialties. Where most people would panic in stressing situations, Logan had the ability to stay calm and focused, concentrating on all the details he could gather so that the team could be effective.

And now, after having given his all to the patients and families, running around on sheer adrenaline, he was ever so relieved to be going home. At ten in the morning, there weren’t a lot of people on the road. A recurrent thought for Logan was that driving home after a night at work wasn’t the safest thing, but he also knew that if ever he wasn’t feeling it, the hospital staff room provided perfectly functioning couches.

Logan was still pondering on that when, out of nowhere, a dark vehicle came onto his side of the car and sent him turning right into a lamp post. After the few seconds it took for the buzzing in his ears and the dotting in his eyes to dissipate, the bespectacled man massaged his temples and took in his surroundings.

The front of his car had impaled itself on a pillar and the screen was cracked. The left door was deformed and pressing his knee into the steering wheel. From what he could see, there didn’t seem to be other damage.

Given the state of the door, his only way out was to extricate his leg and then exit on the other side, which took more time than he’d thought. Once outside, he discovered that what had caused the accident was a motorcycle, which was lying a few feet from his car. Its rider was on the road, seemingly having rolled a short distance. A middle-aged man was kneeling next to him, and he looked to be about to perform CPR on the biker.

“Wait!” Logan shouted and rushed over to them. “At least take him off the road. Have you called an ambulance?”

The man stammered.

“It’s the first thing to do! Help me get him on the sidewalk and then call 911, please!” Logan said, sure that his exasperation was shining through.

Internally raging against bikers whose attire was able to protect them from a lot of things but obviously not fractured bones, and also taking too much time taking off, Logan checked for a pulse and, having found one, rolled him onto his side. He then proceeded to inspect whatever injuries he could find, and heard the other man starting a conversation with a 911 operator. He asked him to put them on speaker.

“Hello, my name is Logan Mitchell, I’m a doctor. There was an accident involving a motorcycle, and the driver is currently unconscious. Please send an ambulance and policemen to take in the damage. The biker is young, probably in his early twenties, and has most certainly endured a concussion from the shock. There are a few broken and bruised ribs, broken wrist, and a possible fracture in his left leg.”

“Thank you, sir. What about the other people involved in the accident? Are there other injuries?” the lady on the other side of the line asked.

Logan started to reply negatively, when the other man cut him off.

“Yes. There’s um… there’s blood.”

Seeming to reach the conclusion that he couldn’t give as exact a statement as Logan, he trailed off. The doctor observed his face, which transpired with horror, and caught his eyesight, leading to his own forehead.

He reached a hand up, immediately feeling a shape on his head, and the wetness of blood that came with it. Slowly, he pulled on it, promptly covering the gash with his other hand.

“Oh, yes. A shard of glass in the head. Not too deep. And… since the biker is probably suffering from a concussion, I guess I must be too.” Logan conceded.

“Thank you, gentlemen. Help is on the way.”

After a few minutes during which Logan tried at best to wipe himself clean and inspect any other possible injuries, several vehicles arrived. The motorcycle rider was promptly put on a stretcher and into one of the ambulances, and the remaining paramedics approached Logan. The doctor couldn’t help but argue that he was fine and didn’t need an ambulance to take him to a hospital, but in the end, he relented and lay down in the second ambulance.

He let himself be taken care of and, once they reached the hospital, allowed the medicine to take him under for some rest.

When he came to, the first thing he felt was a hand in his. He blinked his eyes open and the unfocused image of Remus appeared.

“Should I be worried? Have you finally decided you wanted to know what it felt like being in one of those beds?”

“You’re one to talk,” Logan groaned, his voice barely more than a murmuring.

Remus let out a sort of happy squeak and leant down to place a kiss on his lips. “I’m glad you’re okay and that you’re still you.”

“I can hardly see how getting run into by a motorcycle while driving home would change me. Well, right now I can hardly see at all.”

His boyfriend chuckled and let go of his hand in order to place his glasses on his face. “Good old Logan, making a practical joke to get what he wants. Well, now I have to tell you, the police are still talking with the paramedics, but now that you’ve woken up I think they’re going to be here soon. As the other guy suffered more than you, you’ll probably be interviewed first. I already arranged to bring the car to a mechanic, so you won’t have to worry about that. What happened, darling?”

Logan sighed and sat up a little, taking Remus’ hand back in his.

“I was driving home, thinking about my shift, and out of nowhere there was this dark shape on my left, and next thing I know I’m spinning around into a pillar. I think it’s safe to say that given his speed, the biker shouldn’t have been there. You know that I never get sucked in my thoughts enough that I can’t pay attention to my surroundings.”

“Yeah, of course I know. And you know that I think riders should take lessons in driving through a city regularly enough to remind them that they’re not the only ones on the road.”

Logan smiled and laughed a bit, until it turned into a cough, and Remus handed him a glass of water. At the same moment, a doctor entered the room, followed by two police officers.

“Hi Logan.”

“Hello Oliver.”

“I think it’s safe to say that you’re lucky, especially when you look at the other guy. You only had a few cuts on your arms, and you got stitches for that cut on your forehead. Other than that, you’re fine. I’ll suggest a full day of resting, though, so don’t bother coming in tomorrow.”

Logan grunted but resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said nothing.

“I’ll leave you with these gentlemen. Have a good day.”

Remus and Logan stayed hand in hand as the young doctor recounted the events, assuring the policemen that he was perfectly aware of the circulation on the road and that if there’d been a red light, he’d have seen it. The men thanked him for his cooperation and left.

It was only once the paperwork had been signed and they were back home, comfortably sitting down leaning against each other on the sofa, that Remus finally expressed his concern.

“I think you should tell your brother. And probably mine too. I know it wasn’t big but I think it’s important that they know you had an accident.”

Logan sighed. When his boyfriend spoke so seriously, he knew he didn’t stand a chance. He called Roman first, who made sure he was okay before joking lightly. He knew it would be easier than his brother.

“Hello Patton. I hope I’m not interrupting you, but I just wanted to let you know that I had a small accident when I was driving home this morning.”

The doctor had barely even said the words after ‘accident’ that his older brother was inquiring about his health.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay? What happened? Do you need anything? Should I come see you? I’ll come right after my day is over. Oh but that’s in forever, how are you-”

“Patton,” Logan interrupted forcefully. “I’m okay. I had only a few minor injuries, and Remus already took me home. I’m safe, I promise. I just wanted you to know.”

He listened to the long breath being released on the other line. “Okay. I should still come see you tonight, or tomorrow.”

“As you wish.” With these words, Logan knew there was a chance that his brother understood that he didn’t particularly want to see him.

“Okay, well, stay safe.”

“Bye Patton.”

Without another word, he curled up against Remus and they stayed like that until he drifted back off to sleep.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, and it was not as long this time! This chapter wasn't easy to write until I came up with the idea of showing pictures to guide the conversation for Roceit. I hope you liked this one and hope to see you soon!  
> Also, you might have noticed I've updated the tags with Accidents, because yes, there will be another one further in the story. All propers warnings will come as always (also on that note please tell me if there are things you think I should add in the tags or individual chapter's warnings, I'm still new to AO3).


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